Mending Hearts
by Quirky Sunflower
Summary: Hearts may bend and break, but they can always be mended. Nations experience this more than any other with America and Russia being no exception. Throughout history they have both helped and hurt one another, never seeming to find the chance for stability. But when they finally manage to be honest with themselves and each other, how much of their hearts will be left unscathed?
1. Chapter 1

Hearing a knock at the door Russia sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Yes?" He called out.

"Sorry for interrupting but the empress would like to see you in her sitting room sir." His attendant bowed deeply, waiting for his response.

The nation sighed, "Very well I will be there straight away."

His attendant straightened and left him then. Leaving Ivan to his thoughts. He hoped Catherine wasn't just looking for a plaything to waste time with again. He shuddered thinking about her last attempts. Though he supposed it could be something important. Perhaps something happened with his tradesmen over in northern America.

Rising from his desk he went to Catherine's door, making sure everything on his tailcoat was clean and thoroughly buttoned before knocking. "Come in~" called a sweet voice that sent a shudder down Russia's spine. So far this wasn't boding well.

Upon entering he found the empress perched on one of the overstuffed chairs, luckily in one of her more ornate gowns that restricted her movements. In her hands was a piece of parchment with a rather lengthy block of text. "You wished to see me?"

"Yes my dear please come sit~" she patted the cushion beside her.

Trying not to visibly wince he walked over and sat stiffly. "What is the parchment? Word from our fur traders?"

"Oh no something much more interesting~ You remember the British Empire's little colony America right?"

He could clearly picture the small blue eyed blonde. So much curiosity and fire in a being so young it was hard not to notice. Though he hadn't been around much lately, he supposed it was due to Britain's absence as well. "Of course."

"Well it turns out he's none too happy with daddy right now. He's causing quite the stir and has even started a conflict."

"A conflict?" Ivan's face contorted into concern, did she mean war?

The woman giggled, "Yes, one could even call it a war by this point. It seems the little rascal is giving Britain a bit of trouble so the stuffy man has asked us to send over troops to help him." She waved the parchment around for emphasis.

"I see...and what were you thinking of doing with this information?" A war? He had considered the possibility, knowing how rigid Britain could be and having witnessed Alfred's free spirit. Though he wondered how the young nation himself was coping, it was his first war after all. He knew he wanted to side with him as opposed to Britain, the man had always rubbed him the wrong way.

"So formal~ Tell me Ivan, what would you have me do?" Her eyes were alight with curiosity, a playful smile on her face.

He paused for a moment before smirking, "I would tell him to kiss up to someone else."

Catherine chuckled, waving over an attendant. "Then that is just what we will do~"

Their response was met with a bit of backlash from the British nation. Apparently not liking their tone. Though that did not stop them from asking for support again, this time from their naval forces. Ivan decided they would have to send more than parchment in response to get their opinion across.

As such he along with a couple attendants took one of their ships over to the British colony, catching the attention of the young colony's ships. Showing they were of no threat they were allowed into port at their current capital. Ivan had made sure to dress in his finest uniform. Gold cord, medals, and epaulettes contrasted against the navy fabric in an eye catching display. Making sure his scarf was secure he and his attendants walked down into the port to be met by a group of soldiers and officials. They looked a bit haggard but still in decent health.

"State your business." One, who appeared to be a captain, spoke gruffly giving him a wary eye.

"I am Ivan Braginski, head of military forces. I am simply here to be showing support from Russian Empire in the name of tsarina Catherine the Great."

Eventually Ivan gained the trust of the American officials and asked into the whereabouts of one Alfred Kirkland. Many gave him confused looks but once the right people caught wind of this they thoroughly questioned the Russian official. Finally realizing just exactly who Ivan was they informed him where he would find their representative and arranged travel for him. He was amused to hear the scrappy young blonde had decided to change his name to Alfred F. Jones.

Soon enough he arrived on the outskirts of a soldier camp. As he and his attendants were escorted in many gave him inquisitive looks, some none too friendly. He kept his eyes peeled for a young, blonde boy but couldn't find him anywhere. Though he supposed his short stature could be being blocked by the many men and tents packed in here.

Alfred was told there was supposed to be another representative arriving at camp soon. He could only remember bits and pieces about the man in question...his thoughts conjured a man who was huge and looked like a prince. France had a good laugh when Alfred told him that, the two waiting for Russia's arrival.

Alfred standing tall among his men was surprised to see such a princely man come out of the carriage. They had been at war for a while now so any extra decoration like that wasn't heard of and a lot of his men were put off. Smiling brightly, Alfred and another blond man greeted the group. "Hello, how might we help ya?"

Turning his attention to the energized voice Russia was momentarily taken off guard by the man's looks. Sure he looked a bit battle worn but his hair still shined like golden wheat beneath the sun and his eyes were exquisitely blue and bright, like a summer sky. Alfred sure had some beautiful soldiers. Smiling politely he addressed the men, "Hallo soldiers, sorry to be causing fuss but I am looking for someone." He tried to speak clearly but his accent was quite thick much to his dismay. "Is being small boy with hair of similar color to your own going by name of Alfred F. Jones."

The man next to Alfred glanced over at him, unsure what to respond with. Not all of his soldiers knew of his existence and it would be good to avoid that. Alfred held in giggles, his accent and formal way of speaking was kind of funny and cute. Forcing his face to look confused he responded, "No need to be so so formal, I'm sure we can find who you're looking for!" He nodded at the men next to him.

One of the more loud outspoken men in the back chimed, "I don't recall seeing a small boy at this camp though..." To which a couple more soldiers chimed in agreement.

He was thankful for the soldiers help but was disheartened hearing the others say they haven't seen anyone like he described. "Ah maybe I am having wrong camp then?" He murmured in thought as he looked around a bit more. Noticing French soldiers among the ranks he wondered if he might find another representative around these parts. "I do not suppose anyone has seen Frenchmen with long blonde hair by name of Francis Bonnefoy then?"

The same man chimed in from the back, "You mean the French soldier that looks prettier than actual women?" A couple of men laughed at that.

Alfred watched the Russian man curiously. So he was definitely Ivan Braginski, their representative...but why was he here and being so friendly... potential alliance or maybe it was just to see France?

Ivan chuckled lightly, "Da that is one! So you have seen him?"

"Yeah, he's toward the center of the camp with all the other Frenchies." The man continued to talk.

Alfred taking the opportunity to talk when everyone quieted, "So who are you?"

At least France was here, maybe he could help him locate the colonies representative. He smiled sheepishly at the blonde soldier, he seemed to hold a bit of authority here. His stance was one of someone confident and bold, though he also seemed wiser than his young years suggested. "Ah my apologies, I am Ivan Braginski head of military forces for Russian Empire. I am being here on behalf of her grace tsarina Catherine." He had told the woman many times that she should be referred to by her last name but she just wouldn't have it.

All the other men seemed to have quieted down when Alfred was talking but picked back up after the Russian man finished. "You're not a loyalist are you?" Another man asked suspiciously.

Alfred chuckled, "I don't think he'd tell ya if he was one! Also y'all will probably be reprimanded for talking to a higher foreign official like this so you should skedaddle." Pointing to a large tent with guards around it he smiled brightly, "That's his tent." The men around him began to disperse, trudging off in various directions. Alfred waved to the guards, easily getting Ivan inside.

Murmuring a quick thank you Russia entered the tent. France was currently looking over a map with a look of concentration not usually seen on his features. "Здравствуйте Francis, I hope I am not intruding." He smiled politely.

Turning to greet him the ever composed Frenchman smiled easily, "Not at all my dear Ivan~ Though I was not expecting you to be here." His tone was friendly and warm as the two shared a brief hug in greeting.

Pulling away he smiled lightly, he'd been enjoying France's company more and more these days. He was always so welcoming and understanding, allowing the two to become friends rather easily. "Da was being bit last minute decision. Catherine wanted me to be showing support for young colony and give him our word of neutrality but I have not been able to find representative."

"Oh? That is strange I could have sworn I just saw Alfred a moment ago." The Frenchman pondered.

"Other men were telling me they have not seen small boy around here at all." He frowned, "I was thinking I might have wrong camp."

"Small boy?" Francis echoed before laughing softly, "Oh ma petite russie, I think I know your problem. You are looking for a boy when you should be looking for a man~" he smiled knowingly while Ivan gave him a look of utter confusion.

Curiosity getting the better of him Alfred decided to stroll in, he gave the old folks enough time to chat right? "Have enough alone time~?" he said with a wink walking in. Easily picking up on their close relationship.

Not expecting the blonde soldier to come in Ivan was thrown off guard. Face heating up slightly at the implication he chuckled, "Ah nyet is not like this."

"It could be~" Francis gave him a sultry look.

"Francis please." He bit out, keeping the polite smile in place.

"Ah Russie you are no fun." France pouted.

"I'm not judging, I can easily come back later!" Alfred chuckled.

Francis smiled, giving the blonde a pointed look. "How long are you going to tease the man?"

Alfred continued to laugh, "I could ask you the same thing!"

"I am not a tease! You hurt me Alfred." The Frenchman turned away dabbing at his eyes in mock hurt leaving Ivan in his confusion.

The Russian quickly looked over to the blonde soldier in surprise. "Alfred?" He murmured, looking the other up and down. This man was the representative? But he had been so little not that long ago. He would've had to have grown at the same rate of a human to be this size, which frankly was just unheard of.

Alfred finally calmed himself down from laughing, slightly mad at Francis for wrecking his fun. "Yeah, sorry I couldn't introduce himself properly out there in front of my soldiers. I'm Alfred F. Jones. Pleasure to meet you Ivan Braginski." He said holding out his hand.

"A-ah da, is pleasure." Slipping off his glove he shook the blonde's hand, suddenly very aware of the thoughts he'd been having about this soldier. "Sorry I was not recognizing you, I was not thinking you would grow so quickly."

Alfred chuckled some with his smile showing brightly. "No one did, that lobsterback didn't see it coming."

Ivan raised an eyebrow at the name, "Creative." He smirked before composing himself. "Are you having free moment to talk?"

Alfred raised an eyebrow, he seemed kind of like a stick in the mud...noted. At least Francis was fun. Causally he replied, "Sure, what's up?"

"Is being reason for my visit. I have come to let you know the Russian Empire will not be supporting Britain. We are wanting to aid you by keeping stance of neutrality. We are even willing to be mediator between you two in hopes of settling things peacefully before there is being too much bloodshed." He had practiced a bit of this on the way here, hoping it didn't come off as being too rude.

Alfred looked at the large man carefully for a second and glanced at Francis before turning back with a smile. Francis seemed to trust him and frankly they've been trading illegally with Ivan's country for a while now. He quite liked Catherine's rule for a monarchy... "I like the sound of that!"

Russia relaxed smiling brightly, "Wonderful! I will stay here until we can be having negotiations if would be being alright?" He couldn't stop himself from thinking Alfred had a beautiful smile.

Alfred nodded, "I'll let my commander know." He said walking out, "Francis should be able to keep you occupied until then~" he said humming.

Ivan paused, did that man just- Meanwhile Francis laughed, "That young man is quite a riot."

His cheeks heated up a bit, "Do not encourage him."

The Frenchman smiled, "Come now Russie do not be so stiff. Well unless it is for me of course~"

He sighed chuckling a bit, "You are incorrigible Francis. I am only trying to be polite and decent."

"You are being stuffy and boring." He sniffed looking back at the map. "I know you are trying to put on a good show for the boy but you do not have to. He is not like the other nations."

"What are you meaning by this?" He asked curiously.

"He is much more...free spirited. I have realized one will get farther with him by being fun than by being formal. Most likely due to Arthur's influence." He explained.

"Ah I see, is making sense for one so young. I am still shocked he had grown so quickly." His voice had an edge of disbelief.

Francis chuckled, "If you think about it is not so surprising. Due to Britain's meddling he was forced to grow up much faster than our kind does usually non?"

"I suppose you are making point..." he thought for a moment. "So you really believe he could win this?" He was hesitant to ask but he was curious as to what the man truly thought.

"Oui I do. I am not here purely out of obligation after all." He gave the other a sly smile, "I have a feeling I am not the only one~"

Ivan returned the expression, "You are knowing me too well I think."

"Or not well enough~" Francis winked causing Ivan to blush again. "Ah I really do like that expression, it suits you much more than that usual diplomatic smile of yours." The Frenchmen commented wistfully.

"Alfred was right I think, you are quite the tease." He bantered back, blush easing slightly. Sometimes he really didn't know if the man was being honest or simply playing.

Alfred came back with Washington, the general greeting the nation's happily. Russia was a bit surprised to be meeting with the oppositions current leader but realized Alfred was still a new representative and wouldn't know how to actually handle the situation. He spoke with the man as an equal, seeing no reason to do otherwise. His reason for being here was to simply offer neutral support after all. In the meantime he would be staying in a town close by so they could keep tabs on him while he was here. He was a bit offended by this but understood completely. How could they know he was truly being honest or trustworthy? He hoped by being close he could have chances to talk more with Alfred, at least the boy had France for guidance at this time but he may be able to offer a bit of extra wisdom.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note:**

 **I forgot to mention this earlier but I will leave any necessary translations at the end of the chapter. I know this story is already rated M but I will put any trigger warnings and such that I think may prove beneficial to others at the beginning of each chapter as needed.**

…

In his free time Alfred found himself reading books, listening to Francis, and talking to his men. Curiosity getting the better of him one relatively peaceful afternoon he noticed the overdressed Russian man reading a book. Walking over he looked at the title but couldn't figure out what it said because it was in a foreign language.

Ivan spent most of the time reading and visiting with Francis while he observed Alfred and his men. The blonde seemed to have a way of bonding with the soldiers. They treated him as one of their friends yet still managed to show him the respect of a leader. It was...interesting to say the least. Noticing someone else nearby he looked up from his novel, "Ah Здравствуйте Alfred, I hope things are well?"

"I'm doing pretty good, how about yourself?" He asked while curiously looking at his book.

"I am doing fine, reading to pass a bit of time." He looked at the blonde with an amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Does my novel interest you?"

Alfred nodded, "Yes," he answered bluntly, "is that in your country's language?"

Ivan chuckled at the blonde's forward nature. "Da it is, I am assuming you were never taught any Russian?"

Alfred chuckled, "Nope. Britain only wanted me to learn English." he finished almost venomously.

"Is not surprising me." He noticed the boy's tone darken, interesting. "There is much benefit in learning other languages."

He nodded and smiled, there was no way Britain was going to hold him down any longer. "I want to learn as many as I can. I've been learning French and a couple others..."

"Ah is impressive! French is being wonderful language. I had bit of trouble learning it but alphabet is being much more similar to your own than mine." He chuckled.

Alfred's smile brightened, "It's quite difficult but I'm just lucky to have a great teacher like Francis."

The russian nation laughed lightly, he would have to commend France on his efforts later. Teaching Alfred french was quite the insult to the Englishman. "I agree, he was helping clear up much of my confusion when I learned years ago."

Alfred nodded along, curiosity in full bloom, "So tell me about your language?"

Ivan smiled, happy to have someone take interest in him. "Is being very old with unique alphabet. Here you can be taking look." He showed the other his copy of Doctor Faustus. "Is being called Cyrillic, some sounds are similar to English while others are combinations and some others are completely unique."

Alfred looked on inquisitively, "Oh, so it uses symbols!" He stared curiously wondering if any looked like native languages he could read.

"Exactly." He commended, "If you wanted to learn a bit I could be helping you before I leave? I would not be able to teach you much but maybe basic alphabet and greetings at least?"

"That would be fantastic!" He said, his eyes sparkling with delight.

Ivan giggled, "Wonderful, you can easily be finding me around I am sure. I will most likely not be busy."

Alfred smiled all giddy and happy to gain another perspective on life.

…

Over the next couple months Ivan managed to teach Alfred the Cyrillic alphabet and some basic greetings and phrases. During this time he also worked on furthering the ceasefire plan put forth by Catherine. However things weren't going well. Russia began to doubt the two countries could settle things peacefully.

His concerns were made evident in 1781 when a battle broke out between the two. Eventually the British surrendered, ending the battle. It was after this he got word from his tsarina telling him to return thinking there was nothing more he could do there. He agreed with her but felt sad to leave. Ivan was enjoying the time he got to spend with Alfred and Francis, especially having Alfred be such an enthusiastic student.

Soon he found himself with his bags packed and Alfred at his door. "I am glad you could come on such short notice Alfred. Please come in." He held the door to his room open for the blonde.

"It's no big deal," he smiled bittersweetly and walked in.

Closing the door he addressed the other, "Congratulations on winning battle. Was hard won I am sure."

"Thank you...it was my men and Francis's that should be congratulated." he smiled weakly. He was extremely proud and happy about the battle however he had a looming sense that Ivan was leaving.

"Ah that is good point, I hope they will be given recognition they are deserving." He sighed, "Unfortunately I am not having good news." Alfred looked up at the large man sadly. "I have to leave for my home shortly. I wish I could be staying but I am having own things to handle and is seeming there is not much I can be accomplishing here." He hated the expression on Alfred's face, it was like a melancholic dog.

Alfred nodded, he was starting to form a wonderful friendship with the stuffy but knowledgeable and understanding man. "...that makes sense, I understand you'd have to go home eventually."

Taking a piece of parchment from his pocket he handed it to the blonde. "Do not hesitate to write to me. I would like to be hearing of your progress." He smirked, "While my country may wish to be neutral I am personally hoping for your victory."

He smiled warmly taking the paper, "Thank you Ivan... that means a lot."

"пожалуйста Alfred." He returned the warm smile. "Though I would be being fool if I was thinking you would lose."

Alfred smirked at that comment and blushed slightly, he really looked up to France and him. "Don't worry I won't disappoint you."

He hadn't been expecting to see the blush on the boys face. It was really rather cute. "I know you will not." A knock on the door signaled his ride had arrived. "Ah is my cue to leave I am afraid."

Alfred's expression morphed into a bittersweet smile, "Well I can't keep you waiting." he chuckled getting ready to leave, "I hope to see you soon, I'll definitely write."

"Good." He hesitated before giving Alfred a brief hug, "До свидания." Pulling away he smiled before exiting the room and leaving with his attendants.

Alfred sighed sadly seeing Ivan leave. He'd probably see him soon, right? He headed back to camp to meet up with Francis. However, it confused the blonde that he had requested to see him and not Francis...it kind of made him feel special.

...

The British were leaving Charleston and Alfred simply couldn't believe it. He felt immense pride and happiness swell within him. They signed peace documents a couple months later and Arthur was nowhere to be fount. 'He couldn't bear to face me, huh...?' Alfred thought resentfully.

Over the years after Ivan had left Alfred wrote the russian country many letters. He quite enjoyed him as a pen pal. The representative provided great insight that even Francis couldn't provide.

Eventually the US constitution was ratified. Smiling brightly Alfred looked upon his country men in great pride. Ecstatic about their success. However, he knew there was only more work to come. After celebrating with his people the new nation wrote Ivan a letter of his success and of the news that he was finally an independent country.

...

Ivan enjoyed receiving Alfred's letters, even on paper he could feel the blonde's enthusiasm. It was nice hearing things were going well for him at least. He couldn't say the same for his country. Tensions were rising and his economy wasn't doing so well. He'd even started to feel like he was coming down with a cold. Though he never told any of this to the blonde in his letters, he had enough to worry about.

After a while he received a particularly energetic letter. It seemed Alfred had finally solidified his independence. Ever since seeing the other and his forces he knew he would manage a victory. He sent back a letter congratulating the young nation.

It seemed Ivan's cold was never ending, years later however it grew worse. France's new leader seemed not to like him very much, and his new tsar returned the sentiment. Soon his economy was plummeting and he was going to war with the French. His health was declining and he was beginning to grow a bit worried.

Napoleon's troops were relentless, even though the harsh winter had driven many to death they continued to press on. Soon Ivan was leading a group of soldiers to burn his own capital and many of his crops. He ran with his men, ignoring the searing pain in his chest and the ache of his body. It was foolish for him to be here aiding them when he could feel the burning of his own flesh but he felt compelled to do it. Luckily the French retreated, during a moment of reprieve he wrote to Alfred trying to downplay the situation. He knew the other would hear of this eventually but as a new country he had many of his own worries. The last he needed was to worry about him.

Meanwhile, Alfred had turned inward, looking to expand his country and his knowledge. He promised Washington, one of his father figures, that he wasn't going to get involved in Europe's wars. Needless to say he was a bit surprised and worried to hear that there was tension between France and Russia. From his understanding they had been dating and now all of sudden they were fighting. But upon giving it more thought it began to make a bit more sense, after all, that's what France and England did all the time. Relief fell over him still once he recieved Ivan's letter, glad to hear he was alright. He had already heard from France's officials that the other was managing fine as well. Alfred just hoped this would be the end of it for awhile.

…

 **Translations:**

 **Здравствуйте - Hello (formal)**

 **Пожалуйста** \- **You're welcome**

 **До свидания - Good bye (formal)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note:**

 **As I would rather not have to put entire translated conversations at the ends of chapters I will delineate when someone is speaking in a language other than English by having the words in italics. I still might leave the occasional word in cyrillic if it's just like a pet name or something which I'll still translate like before.**

October 3rd 1990:

As the first pieces of the wall came down masses of people flooded to greet each other in a flurry of hugs and shouts. There was an air of excitement and celebration as loved ones were reunited for the first time in years. However, if one looked close enough they would see a man in the distance looking on with a strained smile. The only indication of his true feeling being the sullen look in his eyes and the dark rings beneath them. Ivan did not know why he bothered to watch the scene. For some reason he was drawn to the place even though all he truly felt like doing was sleeping for a while. Besides, he knew the longer he stayed the greater the chance he'd see the one person he wanted to avoid at all cost.

The ashen blonde sighed, they had been so close only a few years ago yet now they were suddenly bitter enemies. Truly he did not understand what had happened, had he done something wrong? No, America had messed this up. He was the one that had decided not to respond to his letters, not to help him when he had needed it most. That was the last time he would ever ask for help. With that thought coming to mind he began the walk back to the car waiting for him. He knew this event would take a toll on his health but he convinced himself it was only a minor setback and he would recover shortly. Once he did there was a certain blonde who would have hell to pay. And this was one debt he wouldn't avoid so easily.

The next day Alfred strolled through a bright and bustling German town, there was a new energy that had been missing for some time. As he passed by a back alley he noticed a shady fellow trying to wave to him in. Was he trying to sell him drugs? No way a hero would simply walk away and let this happen. So he humored the man and waltzed toward him. However, he soon recognized this familiar face, he was a skinny guy with shaggy brown hair and green eyes. It was a short talk, Toris simply handing him a letter rather than drugs before he quickly scurried off into the crowd.

Back at his hotel room America examined the note, he was sure Toris had to have jumped through some hoops to get here with current events and all. The letter was tattered and written in some sort of cursive? It was hard to think past the mild hangover he sported, really he shouldn't have stopped at Ludwig's place earlier to drink with Gilbert. In the morning Alfred was able to glean that there was some sort of date on it and it was written in Lithuanian. "UGHhhh," he sighed knowing he would have do a little research to solve it, his knowledge on the Lithuanian language was basically non-existent.

Alfred found himself in front of Germany's house around noon. He was pretty good at figuring things out like this, right? However, after knocking continuously for 15 minutes with no answer he ultimately let himself in. Germany should really pick a less cliché place to hide his key. Right away he noticed the whole place looked like a college frat party from the night before. Though that was hardly a surprise, he was finally reunited with his brother so of course Gilbert would want to party the night away. Stepping over Prussia who was passed-out on the floor he made his way to Germany's office. Waltzing in he saw Ludwig sleeping at his desk with a genuine smile on his face. To be honest Alfred tried to think back to a time where he'd ever seen Germany like this…nope, none.

"SO hey, sorry to interrupt your beauty rest but I need ya to translate this for me?" Alfred smiled apologetically, he hated asking for help. But Germany said nothing to respond to him in his half asleep state and simply started translating until the first word rolled out of his mouth, "Novosibirsk," pausing before finishing, "October 23, 1990 at 1900 hours...what is this?" he glared up from the paper. Alfred just shrugged. Germany knew it wasn't his place to press the issue, Alfred had just helped him get his brother back but…he didn't want to go through everything all over again. He couldn't lose his brother again, that was too painful.

Alfred just sighed, "Thank you, it's personal business." shrugging off Germany's concern and walking out of the door. Why did Toris give this to him? It was clearly Toris that wrote this right? It had to be because there was no way HE would write in Lithuanian? This all ran through his head as he walked back to his hotel, avoiding all the stumbling Germans as they were still celebrating.

October 23rd rolled around and Alfred only just realized…Toris didn't put where in the city to meet. The blonde wasn't too familiar with this city, sure he's been to Moscow but he'd never really bothered to branch off to the other cities. Luckily, Alfred had his Russian language skills in tip top shape in case he needed to do some super cool spy stuff, he wouldn't immediately be caught as a foreigner. So, after talking to some locals he made his way into the middle of the city. There he noticed a government building that had an unusually large number of guards around.

Walking around earlier he had noticed a motel just up the street from his current location. That would be a perfect look out, he made his way over to it and noticed the city getting busier as the day grew late. Once in the motel room, Alfred pulled out a box of hair dye. As much as he hated dying his hair he hated the chance of getting caught even more so dark brown it was. He frowned in disgust at his own reflection, not even resembling himself anymore. Reaching into his bag he put in some brown colored contacts, making sure to put his glasses in a safe place to wait for his return.

The meeting time was coming around and the streets were becoming covered in snow. Alfred shivered, feeling the cold through the poorly insulated motel walls. Looking out the window and across the square he saw a car with dark tinted windows pull up. He was barely able to make out anything through the snow but he would recognize that silhouette anywhere. His scarf was blown about in the wind and thickening snow, the cold weather seemed to follow him here.

...

Ivan really did not want to go to this meeting. Frankly, he didn't see the point in his attending besides making him waste his time and energy. They could all discuss the matter without him being there to show face, they never listened to him or even gave him a chance to speak anyway. The car pulled up to one of many government facilities in Novosibirsk. As Ivan exited the snow seemed to wrap about himself like an old friend greeting him, he hardly noticed when it snowed anymore.

Why would Toris want him to meet up with Ivan here? It made no sense to him. However, curiosity got the better of Alfred, he wanted to get closer to investigate. Leaving the motel he walked around the back to see a few windows lit up but that was about all he could see. The snow had seemed to slow down once the Russian entered the building at least so he could see where he was going. However, it didn't stop the cold that came with the encroaching darkness of night and it was getting colder every minute. God, he hated the cold.

It was much warmer inside and after exchanging the customary pleasantries Ivan was ushered into one of the many furnished sitting rooms. Two guards remained at the door as the lock was clicked shut. Sighing Ivan went towards the balcony earning him a warning from one of the guards. "I am beginning to think I am prisoner in my own country." he responded, characteristic smile in place but voice dripping with sarcasm and a barely veiled threat. "I am not planning any secret meeting on terrace. I am only wanting air." He continued out onto the balcony not much caring to wait for a response.

He was curious how the discussions would go. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were already beginning to distance themselves from the union and now it seemed Ukraine was following suit. Even if they would not have told him this information he could feel it. Everyday it seemed he was getting weaker. Sure he was still more powerful than most but he couldn't shake the feeling that this wouldn't last long. He watched his breath escape into the cold night air in little white puffs.

The cold was too much for the newly brunette nation, so Alfred decided to cut his losses and walked through the snow to take a shortcut back to his motel. However, he didn't realize he was passing underneath a scenic overlook that was currently occupied by a tall Russian man with a long scarf. This movement down below didn't go unnoticed, Ivan turned and was surprised to see someone down on the ground looking up at him. Alfred panicked and bolted away, muttering "Shit," over and over again.

Before the stranger turned and bolted in the other direction Ivan glimpsed a small cowlick of hair sticking up over the ushanka he wore. Grinning he strode into the room and looked to his guards. "You will want to round up your comrades, we have a spy. He ran towards the front of the building below." The men scrambled out of the room and took off with the others leaving Ivan alone. Grinning he headed down the hall after them. This was just the distraction he was looking for. 'If my men do not catch the little rat, then I will.'

Sliding to a stop Alfred realized the guards in the front of the building knew about him or at least knew something was up. A group of guards were gathered under the light in the front of the building, their heads swiveling back and forth. Must have been radioed in because there was no way that could have been just delivered by foot. Alfred decided he wasn't going to get close enough to hear what was being said. However, he didn't want them running over his way immediately so moving in the shadows he quickly found a football sized rock in the gardens. With all his strength, he whipped it above the guards heads and into the darkness, hoping they wouldn't see it. Upon landing it made a large crash across the street. Not waiting to see what happened he turned around and headed the way he'd came, towards the back of the building.  
He rounded the corner and immediately saw four large guards, also on high alert. They had a back door, god he felt like an idiot for not thinking of that. To his credit they weren't there earlier. They quickly noticed Alfred, pointing their guns and yelling something too quickly for Alfred to catch. Alfred blurted out, " _I'm just Russian, totally not a spy or anything!_ " The guards were stunned for just enough time so that Alfred could get the jump on them. Whether it was because of Alfred's poor Russian or they actually believed him was a mystery. He knocked them all out but to his dismay one of the guards managed to get a shot off before he knocked him out. "Ah…man…" he groaned, his awesome rock plan was pretty much useless now.

Ivan stood in the foyer of the government building waiting to get word about the spy. Luckily his superiors did not feel the need to get involved and left it to him. Just as he was about to go outside and ask what was taking so long he heard a gunshot from the back of the building. He giggled, he knew it was a good idea to put a few men there.

Realizing he didn't have much time Alfred just began running. He wasn't sure where he was at in location to anything, he passed through what looked like would be a busy street during the day but now there wasn't a single person out. He quickly ducked into an alley, not wanting to stay in a "busy" area for too long. Seeing a fence he made the split second decision to climb his way up and onto the top of the building. It looked like it was a factory of some sort but it didn't peak Alfred's interests enough to stick around there too long. He made his way to the edge of the building. With a wide grin he looked to the next building, he'd always wanted to try this. Without another thought he jumped to the next building's roof, unfortunately, it was a floor lower than the one he jumped from. He'd managed to land but he hurt his foot a bit in the process. "Ouch," he muttered to himself.

This was a large building, maybe a warehouse to the factory next door? He continued walking carefully, seeing that the next building was quite a leap away. If he were to go back down they might see him but if he stayed above at least it wouldn't be easy to catch him. With a deep breath to steady himself he went to jump. However, the foot he had hurt previously gave out, causing him to not jump high enough to clear the gap to the next roof but perfect enough to crash through the window below. "Argh!" Alfred yelled as he felt glass cut him from the window. "FUCK MAN," he groaned, laying on the floor in pain. Luckily for him there was no one to greet him. He staggered to his feet, figuring there must be a bathroom or something, right? He walked out of what appeared to be an office of sorts, it wouldn't be good if he didn't get out of there by morning. Luckily, down the hall there was a small bathroom with a first aid kit. He worked on patching up his small cuts and removing the pieces of glass from his skin.

Ivan took off towards the back entrance to find four guards unconscious. Without much thought he ran towards the main thoroughfare away from the building. The streets were deserted at this time of night, no one daring to brave the cold dark streets. It was thanks to this that Ivan was able to catch a glimpse of movement heading towards a side alley. Running into the narrow space he came to an abrupt stop finding a fence in front of him and no trace of the spy. Looking at the alley on the other side he could see the snow looked completely undisturbed. The footsteps stop abruptly at the fence meaning his spy had apparently vanished into thin air. 'They wouldn't have scaled the fence to climb on top of the-'

Before he could even finish the thought Ivan heard a loud crash and the tinkling of broken glass from above and ahead of him. 'I suppose that answers my question.' Climbing the fence he reached the rooftop to find the trail of footsteps leading to the next roof. After leaping across the building and making sure to roll upon impact so as not to hurt himself he strode to the other side. It looked as if they crashed through the window, cutting themselves in the process judging from the hints of blood.

Ivan decided to corner his prey inside assuming they hadn't left yet. Scaling down the building he found a locked door leading inside that was easy enough to open. After adjusting to the sudden darkness inside he crept up the stairs leading to the upper levels. He quickly found the broken window and followed the slight trail of blood and glass to a bathroom. Glancing inside he saw a huddled form wearing a trench coat and ushanka. They seemed to be male judging from the size and the lower pitch of the sounds they made while trying to clean their wounds. He had a feeling he knew exactly who this was, and if he was right then this would be very fun indeed. Ivan smiled and pulled out his pipe stepping into the doorway of the bathroom, shadow spilling over the huddled form. Giggling he spoke, " _There is nowhere left to run, my little rat."_

Alfred jumped and let out a little scream falling onto his butt. God, Ivan was normally scary but this took the cake. He wasn't expecting anyone to find him anytime soon.

Ivan chuckled, if the girlish shriek was anything to go by he would say this was most definitely America. Which meant this was going to get interesting. "You are terrible spy comrade, I hope you know. It was too easy finding you. Now it is time to be paying price." he just hoped this would last long enough to save him from the boredom awaiting him back at the meeting.

"You know what," he countered, turning around and standing up to face Ivan wearing an expression of embarrassment and anger. "I didn't even have to come here?! I shouldn't have followed the STUPID note!"

Thinking of all the ways he was going to make America regret coming here Ivan took a step forward and paused, wait what was it he had said? Something about a note? _"What?"_ Ivan paused remembering the American probably didn't know Russian before adding, "You have five seconds to explain what you are doing here and why I have not knocked you unconscious yet." He waited for the response with his ever present smile on his face while his eyes bored holes into the other's skull.

Still flustered and angry America took a step backwards as Ivan moved forward, trying frantically to eye an escape route, but the only way out appeared to be through Ivan. He realized once words came out of Ivan's mouth that he messed up and there was no way he was going to throw Lithuania under the bus, that wasn't what heroes did. "Umm...I have no clue what you're talking about?" He responded with a sneer and chuckle.

Ivan raised an eyebrow, was this little shit actually trying to lie to him? Well it was definitely a piss poor attempt and he had a feeling even America knew that judging by the look on his face. No matter, he knew how to make him talk. "Oh is that so?" he giggled, a manic look of glee and hatred on his face "Then I suppose there is no reason for you to still be awake." He lunged forward, pipe in the air poised to strike.

Was Ivan actually charging him? "Ah FUCK!" He hissed, putting up his hands to grab the pipe. Not having any time to think about the situation.

Ivan sneered, he wanted his pipe? Alright then he could have it. Letting go of his trusty weapon he lifted his foot and kicked America square in the torso, knocking him back into the sink pedestal causing it to crack. He then descended upon his opponent.

Breath knocked from his lungs Alfred wheezed a moment, he couldn't feel the pain of being slammed hard against the sink just yet. He was only concerned with trying to take a breath through the shock of realizing he couldn't.

Taking advantage of America's momentary state of shock Ivan grabbed the pipe the other still held and slammed it forward. He would see to it that the rat never caught his breath and would pass out. Then the real fun would begin.

Before Alfred knew what was happening Ivan had him pinned against the sink while he gasped, trying to get any air he could. His arms were pinned awkwardly so he couldn't use his full strength to push Ivan off. He couldn't afford to get caught, his boss would kill him if Ivan didn't first, he was desperate...gritting his teeth he headbutted Ivan square in the forehead, knocking him back if only slightly. Ivan wouldn't have been so stunned if America's head wasn't so incredibly dense. Freeing his right arm Alfred quickly elbowed Ivan as hard as he could in the neck dropping him instantly.

After a couple minutes of coughing America was able to regain his breath and calm down. He staggered to his feet and looked in the mirror but it was badly cracked. He had hoped he looked like a hero that just defeated his enemy, but he was just a mess with blood now dripping down his forehead…he was in pain everywhere. He would have used the sink but it was kind of broken now. Remembering his opponent Alfred inspected Ivan, he was out cold. Deciding throwing up to death would be shitty even for Ivan he rolled him onto his side. The sooner he got out of here the better, he had just started to leave when he got an ingenious idea. Finding a pen in the office America went back to Ivan's body, he was tempted to write the hero was here but he didn't want to get caught again…so he just drew a dick. With his masterpiece complete he promptly exited the building and made his way back to his hotel, sneaking in through his window. Locking the window and closing the blinds he made sure the front door was locked before taking out his contacts and passing out in bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note:**

 **Italics stand for when someone is speaking a language other than English.**

...

Slowly Ivan started to hear noises as if coming from a long tunnel. Why was it so hard to hear? His head pounded, he doubted the light and the shouting was helping much. Wait. Shouting? What were they saying? Something about a doctor? Finally memories of the night came flooding to his conscious. He groaned knowing this was going to be a mess and slowly blinked open his eyes. Bright, blinding light was shining from the light above him. He turned slightly and saw the broken sink and his pipe. Reaching out and grabbing his trusty weapon he used it to help him stand. His head wanted to split in two and it felt like it was stuffed with cotton but otherwise he was fine now.

He finally turned to address the frantic business man behind him, looking stunned for just a moment by seeing what he probably thought was a dead man stand. Once the initial shock wore off he started to ask rapid fire questions: Are you ok? Who are you? What are you doing here? How did this happen? Is that your uniform? You didn't steal anything did you? Why do you have pen on your forehead? Are you drugged? Or maybe drunk? I've called an ambulance and the cops so they should be here shortly…

Looking in the mirror he saw the pen the man spoke of. Glaring at his reflection and the poorly drawn abomination on his head he thought of all the ways Alfred was going to pay dearly for this. Wiping off the pen with the water dripping from the broken sink Ivan's eyes narrowed, an ambulance and cops? Not good. He was already going to be in a lot of trouble with his superiors as it was for ditching the meeting. He could only imagine how much worse getting the common people involved would be.

He turned to the man and slowly approached him, the man backed into the wall and stared up at Ivan with pure terror in his eyes. "You will not tell anyone I was here and you will forget about everything, yes? _"_ The man nodded in mute horror. Ivan patted him on the head, "Good boy!" Smiling down at the man he turned and left walking out the front door and out into the bustle of the morning streets. Making a phone call he told his boss where to find him, after many threats he hung up saying that they would discuss this in his office. Lovely just what Ivan wanted. He pulled out his vodka and drank a bit while he waited, hoping to dull the pain in his skull.

The door shut tight behind him as soon as he walked in. He really did not wish to have this conversation but he knew it would have to happen eventually. His boss stared at him from the desk with cold critical eyes probably taking in the bruises he had on his face. "So, what happened? Why did you just disappear? And why in god's name were you found unconscious in a destroyed office bathroom?!"

Oh great so he knew that detail already. Well he certainly could not tell him the truth. If anyone found out America had been involved then this would get too out of hand. Plus, he still wanted to question the blonde about that note he mentioned. That was why he had concocted a plausible story in the car over. "There was a spy who wanted to listen in to our meeting. When the guards were unable to catch him, I pursued him." He frowned, "Unfortunately, he caught me off guard and knocked me out. I suspect he may have been from Poland." A decent mix of both truth and lie that should be believable.

"How were you taken by surprise? Let alone by a spy from Poland of all places?!" Ivan sighed, he knew his boss would pick up on that. He didn't want to share the information he would next, partially because it was true, but he knew he would have to for his story to be believed.

"If you have not noticed I'm not in the best of health. Because of current affairs, I have become much weaker. I do not know if I could win many fights in my condition _."_

His boss paused, face going blank. He appeared to be thinking long and hard, but he looked down and waved Ivan away. Apparently he bought the story. Ivan walked out to the car and told the driver to bring him home.

While he looked up at his house the car drove away. He never really took in its appearance anymore but just this once he noticed. It was large, grand even, he remembered when it was first built a few decades ago. It was perfect, a work of art and the pinnacle of architecture. However now he could see the paint had faded and places where the trim was broken and showing its age. It seemed even his house was growing weary of this age.

The loud thunk of the massive wooden doors closing reverberated through the house as he entered. "Hello master Ivan." Toris greeted.

"Hi Toris." he responded curtly.

"I made food if you're hungry."

"Yes, thank you." Toris followed Ivan into the kitchen. He kept staring and fidgeting as he filled a bowl with borscht. "Yes Toris? You want to ask me something?" he sighed.

The brunette jumped, really he was too easy to read at times. "Ah, yes! Um, how was the meeting?"

"Fine. Well, until America showed up." he muttered.

"Аmerica?"

"Yes. In fact, could you call him for me? I want to discuss something with him." He'd most likely answer if it was Toris who called him.

"Of course. What do you want to talk to him about?" Remembering his manners he hurriedly added, "If you don't mind my asking!"

"I'll tell you, but do not tell America. For some reason he would not tell me about it when I asked him last time." He grumbled before continuing. "He said something about a note telling him to be there last night. I want to know more about it." Ivan was busy remembering America's strange reaction to being questioned so he didn't notice Toris's look of shock and worry.

"I will call him right now." Toris all but ran away, leaving Ivan to think in the deathly silence of his home.

...

Something wasn't right, why was he so cold? After stretching and stumbling around to find his glasses Alfred finally remembered where he was. He sighed heavily, all he had wanted to do was come in and save the day…not come to Russia and start a fight. Though he couldn't help but smile thinking of the epic fight they had and how he had kicked that communist ass. Alfred made his way to the bathroom, still in quite a bit of pain. He decided a shower would be best, inspecting his swollen ankle and some smaller shards of glasses that were still stuck in his skin. The injuries were already looking a lot better, being a country was nice sometimes. When he exited the shower and finally bothered to look in the mirror he gaped at his reflection. "What?!" he exclaimed, it wasn't like he didn't love his bright blonde hair or anything, but with the dye gone his cover would be blown. Scrambling to find the box in the garbage he groaned, "TEMPORARY!"

After pacing back and forth for a good ten minutes he decided to sit down and try to think of a great exit plan. That's when he heard his cellphone go off. He looked and saw it was Toris, maybe he could explain what the fuck was supposed to happen last night. Alfred picked up with a little annoyance in his tone, "Hello?"

Toris was put off at first, why did Alfred sound so upset? Would he just make him even more angry by mentioning this? Most likely. The thought was almost enough to make him just hang up. But then he remembered the night America had just had and realized it was natural for the blonde to be so angry. Plus, if he didn't talk with America then Ivan would be mad at him...and that was much much worse.  
"Ah hello mister America. I'm sorry if I am interrupting anything. I was just hoping to speak with you." Toris knew Ivan could hear him from here if he really wanted. So he would have to come up with a reason to leave the vicinity if he wanted to truly discuss matters with America.

'Shit.' Alfred thought to himself, he came off a lot meaner than anticipated. Plus Toris is really too kind to have purposely wanted last night to happened like it did. "Not really, what's up dude?" he responded casually.

"Well master Soviet wanted me to talk with you but um..." he needed a reason to leave the area, preferably to do something loud enough to hopefully mask his voice a bit in case Ivan did eavesdrop. "Oh! I just remembered I was in the middle of beating the rugs, do you mind if we continue talking while I finish? They are pretty expensive so I don't want them to be ruined by the snow." Toris hoped he sounded like just the right mix of friendly and worried so as to not tip off Ivan that he was planning something.

"Umm…do what you need to do dude…?" Alfred took a second to think to himself…why would Soviet want him to talk to him? Did he know Toris sent him the note? …he hoped not for Toris's sake.

"Thank you America!" Toris tried to keep the massive amounts of relief from his voice while he walked towards the back of the house, gathering a couple rugs along the way. "Soviet wanted me to talk with you because he wishes to meet with you." Toris began to set up the first rug, he hoped America stayed on the line long enough for him to get a word in.

"...WHAT...? I tried that last night and as you probably figured out it didn't go too well. That communist bastard went at me pipe first?! Luckily being the headstrong hero I am, I was able to stop him and make it out alive!" Alfred puffed his chest out proudly while telling him that.

"..." Toris was quiet for a minute as he got the iron to begin his chore. Once he laid the first strike to the rug he spoke "...America...what exactly did you do last night?"

"..." Alfred paused for a moment. "Stuff happened. It was a lot, I figured Soviet would tell you since you two are close. Also why did you give me the letter anyways?"

Toris sighed, "Soviet may trust me with some information but not much." he wondered if he should tell Alfred why he gave him the note. If he did, would Alfred be open to understanding Ivan? He doubted it. Unfortunately both Alfred and Ivan were exceptionally stubborn, which meant unless they began to understand each other on their own terms then it wouldn't happen. It was best to stay safe and only tell half of the truth. "Well you can't believe I enjoy being under Soviet's rule? Anyone would prefer to be free and in control of their own country. I suppose I was hoping to give you a leg up by being able to listen in on the meeting. I thought you may be a worthwhile ally to have in this situation." Sure he also hoped to get the two of them to find common ground and lessen the tension between them. Maybe even to the point that Ivan would still survive this with a few people in the world who would aid him or at least understand his position even just a little.

Kind of stunned he didn't say much for a second. "Really?" He didn't take Toris as someone to just double cross Soviet, maybe he had more balls than what he gave him credit for. "That's totally what happened! I got some great information, kicked ass, and he went crying with his scarf between his legs! Totally planned out and everything! Haha... So why does he want to meet up?"

Toris ignored Alfred's most likely exaggerated detailing of the incident and was relieved he didn't ask more detailed questions into his reasoning. "Well he wishes to discuss the note you mentioned. Apparently he's really intrigued by it, which I really cannot blame him. He probably thinks there could be a spy somewhere in his government or household. So if you do meet with him please do not mention my giving you the note America. He cannot know I am the one who gave it to you." He wished he was stressing this fact enough. He could only imagine what Ivan might do to him if he thought he was a spy.

"Don't worry I got your back buddy!" He said thinking for sure he wasn't going to mess up again. "So where and when is this play date he wants to have with me?"

Toris let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, "Thank you America. Well to be honest I don't really-"

 _"Тoris, how is the phone call?"_ Toris jumped and dropped the metal tool from his hand in surprise at the deep voice behind him. He turned to find Ivan in the doorway leading into the house, his usual smile in place.

 _"Аh! M-master Ivan! It's going well! Do you need something?"_

 _"No, I was just curious what was taking so long? Does the stupid American want to meet or not?"_ If Toris didn't know any better he'd say Ivan had an almost excited look about him at this prospect. But he couldn't comprehend why he would be looking forward to meeting with America that much when he supposedly hated the blonde.

Alfred could recognize that voice anywhere...it was Ivan. Kind of curious to what Toris and Ivan were saying he waited. However his hot headedness got the better of him when he heard stupid and America from over the phone. "Communist bastard! Who does he think he is?! Give that asshole the phone! I want to talk to him! Show him some good ol' home grown American respect!"

Ivan raised an eyebrow and smirked at the obnoxious voice over the phone. He loved how just the sound of his voice could get such a reaction from the blonde. So he wanted to talk directly? Well he was not about to argue. "Give me phone Toris."

"Y-yes sir." Lithuania begrudgingly handed over the phone. He really hoped Alfred didn't give him away.

"Привет America, I hope you are enjoying stay in my country." Ivan knew he hadn't left yet, he's had eyes in all nearby airports since first spotting the American last night. Just in case. He didn't want his prey getting away so easily.

He scoffed. "It's been swell Braginski, swell! How's your forehead doing? Passing out in the bathroom isn't like you." Alfred smirked.

Ivan chuckled darkly, so he wanted to play this game? Fine he'll play. He turned and reentered the house, getting out of Lithuania's ear shot. "Dа comrade you are quite the artist. I had almost forgotten how I need to repay the courtesy of your visit last night. Do not worry, I will not be forgetting again." Ivan entered his study and closed the door. Sitting at his desk he rested his head in his hand, "What do you say America, care to be speaking in person about last night? I hate having delicate conversation over phone. Especially when phone is not mine"

"I don't see how this could get any worse so why not?" His words dripped sarcasm. "Just give me the deats and I'll decide from there?"

He was going to act like a petulant child was he? Ivan didn't like such behavior. Well if America was going to use the tone of an ungrateful child then he would treat him as such. "Very well поросенок be at my house within the hour. And do not keep me waiting, dа?" Ivan pulled the phone away and snapped it shut not caring to hear Americas whining any longer. He supposed he should return this to Toris and inform him of their guest.

"FUCKIN' HELL!" Alfred cursed, stomped his feet as he paced in the room. That bastard had the gall to call him a pig and then hang up on him? Alfred flung himself onto the bed, 'What if I just didn't show? He can't tell me what to do…' he thought to himself while definitely not pouting. Thirty minutes passed of him just twiddling his thumbs and debating whether or not he should go. Sitting up he then realized he had no idea where the heck Ivan even lived. How long does it take to get there even? Picking up his phone he called Toris.

Toris felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He paused in his preparation of dinner to pull out the phone. 'America again? What could he possibly want? Shouldn't he already be on his way?' He flipped open the device, "Hello?"

"Hey dude!...Umm where's Soviet's house? He told me to come but he never told me where it was?"

Toris just stared at the wall for a minute. "Alfred, you could have called sooner. There's no way you're close enough to get here in a half hour..." he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Or maybe he did. He had known Ivan a while so it was possible.

"Well...what's the address, I better get walking?" He laughed to himself thinking good, make that asshole wait.

After telling Alfred the address Toris decided to give him one last bit of advice. "Oh and Alfred, just remember to duck alright?" he hung up before hearing any questions from the blonde. He knew if he gave him too much advice Ivan would know. He always knew when he meddled so he had to be careful and keep an extremely light hand in this situation.

"Duck? What? Is that asshole planning to hit me?" He said before he realized Toris hung up. What was up with people hanging up on him lately, usually he was the one that did that. Strapping on all of his guns and combat knives, and boy did he have a lot of them, Alfred decided he was good to go to that bastard's house. He walked a couple blocks away to a busier street to find a taxi. The driver gave him a funny look when Alfred relayed the address, however being oblivious Alfred didn't notice or didn't care to notice. He didn't really pay attention to the time, heck he didn't even know when Toris had called him to begin with.

...

Ivan looked at his watch, it read ten past 6. He looked out the window at the almost set sun as Toris cleaned up after dinner. "He is late."

"Yes. I think he will end up being very late..." Toris mumbled.

"Is that so..." he had told him not to be late. Well now he could have a bit of fun with him. "Тоris, take the others and go stay at a hotel for the night."

Toris could practically hear the dark joy that was no doubt etched onto the other's face. "Yes, master Ivan."

About thirty minutes later the others left leaving Ivan alone in the giant house. He always forgot how quiet the place was with no one around. After going through the house and turning off all the lights he sat next to the front door, trusty pipe in hand, and waited for his fashionably late guest. He listened to the quiet creaks of the old house and the low whistle of the wind outside. 'Yes' he found himself thinking 'with no one else around this house begins to feel quite cold and lonely.' A sad smile graced his lips as he let out a sigh. How had he found himself in this situation? He doubted he could actually win a fight against America and yet here he sat waiting to try again. He was getting weaker every day, he knew it, his government knew it, even Toris and the others knew it. It was only a matter of time before America and the rest of the world realized this fact and took advantage of the opportunity. Of course maybe death would not be so bad at this point? At least he would finish this eternity having had many people by his side at the end.

Ivan was ripped from his thoughts by the sound of a car door slamming shut. Peering out the window he saw America standing in front of the taxi, once again sporting his characteristic blonde hair. He checked his watch, the little prick was exactly an hour late. Ivan chuckled, he knew just how to push his buttons.

Getting out of the taxi Alfred saw the house. God, Ivan was such a weird old man...his house looked like it came right out of an old horror movie. Chills were sent up his spin. He tried to cover his fear by laughing to himself, muttering a quiet mantra of "There's no ghosts here, there's no ghosts here…" as he walked up to the door.

Just as Ivan was about to get in position he stopped and watched the blonde more closely. He appeared to be talking to himself. If he looked closer it even looked as if the man was shaking. It was then that he remembered the Americans fear of ghosts and was struck with a brilliant idea. He quickly rose from his place by the door and crept to the sitting room adjacent to the entryway. Grabbing the remote he positioned himself next to the bookshelf and waited for the fun to begin.

As Alfred reached the door it creaked open slowly, his mouth hung open on a soundless scream "No, no, no, not ok." He muttered. Where was Toris to greet him? He peaked his head into the house, "Hey Toris...are you in here?," his voice now had a noticeable tremor. "I'm coming in..." There appeared to be no one at home, all he could hear was the loud wind and the creaking of the house. Though being outside in the dark freaked him out way more than the creepy house...with slight tears forming in his eyes he stepped into the entryway.

Ivan had to repress a giggle, this really was too fun to watch. However, it was time to raise the stakes. He shook the shelf to knock some of the books off, causing a rather loud thud. As they fell Ivan crept around the other doorway of the room and waited right outside for Alfred to enter.

Wide eyed out of fear Alfred fell to his butt letting out a small screech of pain...after a couple seconds of catching his breath he called out shakily into the silence, "Hey, Toris are you there? This is the address you told me, right?" After waiting for a response and receiving none he brushed himself off and stood up. Slowly making his way into the room shaking, "Toris, where are you?"

Ivan could barely contain his glee, this was going exactly as planned. Now time for the hard part. Peeking inside the room he saw America was clearly scared, he even had tears in his eyes. That meant he should be too distracted to notice him during his next plan. Once Alfred crept far enough into the room so that Ivan wasn't in his direct line of site he pointed the remote towards the tv. He pushed the button and the tv blinked to life.

Screaming America dove behind the nearest chair. Ivan would be the country to have ghosts in his house, heck he was probably the one that killed them. Whimpering behind the chair he wished the TV would just shut off...without thinking he lifted up the chair, shouting, "I'm sorry ghosts, don't kill me!" and chucked it at the TV running out of the room.

Ivan crept past the doorway as quickly and quietly as he could so as not to be spotted. He then continued down the hall and around the corner until he reached the front door. It was at this point that he heard America screaming at the ghosts and an ungodly crash. Somehow he had a feeling the man had managed to utterly destroy his sitting room. He then shut and bolted the door, sprinting into the kitchen soon after. Ivan took a minute to catch his breath, that was too close.

He heard the other sprint into the adjacent dining room. It was time to end this whole charade before any more of his things became broken beyond repair. He crept up to the swinging door, close enough to stay hidden but far enough to not be hit by the arc. Pulling out his pipe he just had to think of a way to get him in here. Well he had been calling for Toris an awful lot. With his current state he could probably fool him with even a mediocre impersonation. Ivan tried to imagine Toris's voice in his head as he almost yelled. "Alfred?! Help is that you?!" he held his pipe at the ready.

"Toris, what's wrong?!" He called out, arming himself with his trusty handgun and running towards the door. His eyes darted every which way as he pushed open the swinging door.

The second Ivan saw the door move he swung catching the american right upside the head. However, the crack he expected to hear was drowned out by a gunshot. A second later pain erupted to life in his chest causing him to stumble back and drop his pipe. He leaned against the table trying to catch his breath. He quickly realized he had been shot and would probably pass out soon. Still having enough sense about him he pulled out his phone and called Lithuania.

Toris was awoken by a dull buzz and soft ringtone in his ear. He reached for the phone in his half awake state and looked to see it was Ivan. He decided it was most likely in his best interests to answer. _"Hello?"_

 _"I've been shot."_ Ivan hissed through the pain.

 _"Wait...what?!"_ Toris bolted upright in the hotel bed he was sharing with Estonia and Latvia. He was very much awake now.

 _"Come here now."_ he ground out.

Lithuania got out of bed as quickly and quietly as possible. Now that he was awake he could hear some muffled movements from the other end of the phone as well as very labored breathing. _"I am! But where were you shot? Do you need medical attention?"_ he waited for a reply but was instead met with a clatter, thump, and nothing but quiet labored breathing. 'Oh no he's already passed out.'

Toris was assuming he must have been shot in a vital area to have called him and from the sounds of it he would most likely be dead upon his arrival. He quickly dressed and left the others a note stating he had to leave on business from Soviet but to enjoy a day off tomorrow. That should keep them away from the house long enough for him to deal with the mess. Plus he knew no one else would be of help in this situation. On the short drive back to the house Lithuania called an underground doctor they've relied upon in the past. He didn't want to get Russia's government involved so this was the only way.

He arrived at the house a short time later finding the front door locked. Once he managed to get inside he wondered if anyone was really home. He flicked on a light when something to his right caught his eye. Peering into the sitting room he found what he could only describe as a war zone where the tv had most definitely lost. It seemed Ivan would be wanting him to take some furniture from another room in the house to replace the heap of firewood that was once a priceless arm chair.

He followed the destruction to the other door way where it looked like someone had gripped the frame. Rather rightly from the imprint that was left in the wood. America had most definitely been here. He assumed that's who had shot Ivan but if that was the case then what happened to America? And why did he try to attack him with a chair? He followed the hallway and pushed open the dining room door, best to be thorough.

Flicking on the light he saw that the swinging door was jammed open. He rounded the grand table to find a bloody blonde head poking through the doorway, the old wood slick with a puddle of his blood beneath him. Toris was a bit shocked at first, so they had managed to kill each other? He let out a sigh, a small bubble of awkward laughter coming out with it, "Then again, what else would I expect from you two? Why can't you two talk with something other than weapons?"

He knelt down just to check that America was definitely dead. With the condition of his cracked skull he'd say yes. "I told you to duck my friend." Getting up he made his way around the body to find Ivan close by slumped against the kitchen table also sitting in a pool of blood. 'I don't think they understand how hard it is to scrub blood out of wood and tile.' Toris thought bitterly.

But he did feel a bit saddened by the scene. He wished the two of them could stop fighting. He didn't know America all that well but he'd always been nice. Ivan he knew better than most, maybe even better than anyone. He knew that if he could just get these two to talk, really talk and listen to each other, then they could find a way to make a sort of peace with each other. He didn't exactly know what that would be, but anything would be better than this.

During his thoughts he checked to make sure Ivan was dead. He had been shot in the chest, not his heart but potentially a lung. He noticed he didn't have his scarf on and realized it was sitting in a heap on top of the table. So he had enough sense about him to take off his scarf? The attachment he had to that thing was impressive.

Lithuania heard a knock at the door and realized it was most likely the doctor. He let him inside and they got to work hauling the two of them, one at a time seeing as how they were both exceptionally heavy, up the stairs to a couple bedrooms in Soviet's private wing. Once there he watched as the doctor fix up first Alfred and then Ivan. Apparently Ivan had gotten lucky and his lung was just grazed. So enough to die of shock and blood loss but not too difficult to treat.

Once the doctor was paid and left Toris began the task of cleaning up the two simpletons handy work. Scrubbing the blood off the floor took the longest. The kitchen and dining rooms will probably smell like bleach for a while. He was just bringing down a second armchair from an unused room upstairs when the others came back. Setting down the chair he greeted them "Hello everyone! How was your day?"

Ukraine answered first, "It was nice and very relaxing!"

"If by relaxing you mean boring then yes, I agree." Poland flippantly chimed in, walking away to his room. Many of the others soon followed except for Estonia and Latvia who came over to him.

"What did Soviet need so badly?" Estonia asked.

"He probably just wanted someone to be his bitch-." Latvia interjected.

"Raivus please." Toris admonished, "He just needed me to pick up a few things for him." He hoped he sounded convincing.

"At night?" Estonia raised an eyebrow.

"Yes well, you know Ivan." Lithuania shrugged. "Excuse me but I have more work to finish, I will talk to you later." He began to walk up the stairs towards Soviet's wing. He didn't know how long it would be before Ivan awoke but he imagined he would like his blood stained clothes taken care of.

…

 **Translations:**

 **Привет: Hi (informal)**

 **Поросенок: Pig**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I just wanted to give a quick thank you to** **sasunaru13** **for the wonderful reviews! I know I skipped ahead in history quite a bit and to be honest I had more written for before the soviet era but I decided it wasn't super necessary to the story and cut it out lol :) But anyways here's the new chapter! I promise the note will be explained soon ;)**

 **...**

God everything was so bright, all Alfred could manage to do was squint his eyes at his surroundings. Why was everything so bright and why did he feel like he got hit by a train? His head pulsed, where was he? None of his homes looked like this? He hadn't even felt this bad when he had partied with Prussia for about a month. The last time he had felt this bad was when he had died...wait...had he died?! Sitting up quickly in shock Alfred dry heaved from the sudden rush of pain and nausea. Laying back down he slammed his fist against the bed and shouted, "Fuck! I died!"

It was two days later that Toris heard a rather loud profanity from Ivan's wing. 'He took a bit longer to wake up then I thought he would.' He had already told the others the basics of what had happened so when they gave him curious looks in passing they quickly shrugged it off. Lithuania reached the doorway of America's room and knocked softly. He figured the blonde would be pretty sensitive to noise at this point.

"Ugh, what?" He responded, unsure if he had heard a knock or not.

Toris peaked his head inside, "Ah sorry America I heard you so I thought I would check in on you." he answered softly.

"Toris?" Alfred muttered without even looking, putting his hand on his pulsating head.

He took that as an invitation and stepped inside, "Yes it's me." smiling softly he closed the door behind him. "How are you feeling?"

"Ughhh. I feel like I was hit by a train. What happened?" He moaned.

Wait...so Alfred didn't even know what happened? This was going to be more difficult than Toris had thought. "Ah well I was sort of hoping you could tell me actually." Toris grinned sheepishly, "Three days ago Soviet called me and told me he had been shot and that I should return to the house. I came back to find the sitting room destroyed and you two on the floor amidst a mess of blood. I'm assuming Ivan hit you over the head with his pipe while you managed to shoot him. Quite impressive really."

"Huh? So I'm still in his country..." America paused, thinking hard on what happened. "Three days?!" He attempted sitting up too quickly only start dry heaving once again. Laying back down he groaned, "Fuck! To be honest I don't really know what happened. I got here and I couldn't find anyone. Heck I didn't even see Soviet?!" Or did he, he was stopped from talking by his own thoughts...the image of Ivan swinging his pipe at him flashed in his head. "Maybe I did see him..."

Alfred really was out of sorts. Then again a head injury like his would do that to you. "So what do you remember?" Toris sat down next to the bed.

"Umm..." he really didn't want to seem un-heroic so he paused for a second but kind of decided to say fuck it because he was in too much pain to care. "Well I got dropped off at Soviet's house, and I walked up to the door...it opened by itself. I figured it was you that opened it so I walked in. I didn't see anything but I heard books fall. Still assuming it's you I walk into the room...that's when the tv turns on by itself. That's when I realized that this place was probably cursed and full of ghosts." He let out a little whine. "Then the next thing I know is you're calling for help and Soviet is smacking me in the head..." Quieter and more to himself he muttered, "I'm still in this house, this house has ghosts in it..."

Toris had to stop himself from bursting out into uncontrollable laughter. He was supposed to believe that America the great super power was afraid of ghosts? He knew it was actually just Ivan playing with the blonde last night and not any actual ghosts but he wasn't sure how to break it to Alfred. Well probably best to just be quick and clear about it. "America I assure you this house is not haunted. Last night what you experienced was Ivan joking with you. Probably getting back at you for knocking him unconscious the other day and being late that evening. So...is that why you threw the chair at the tv?"

"What...the ever loving fuck?" He said now staring at Toris still laying on his back. "Are you telling me that Soviet was behind all that? That bastard! If I get a chance I'll draw 10 dicks on his forehead and not just one!" He said pouting and looking away.

Toris just stared at Alfred. He couldn't actually be serious. These two are more like children than nations. Children with super strength and deadly weapons. "Right, um well I'm sure you already know this but I think it would be best if no one knows what happened. I told the others in the house that you and Ivan got into a fight but left the, um, death part out of it."

"Where is Soviet anyways?" He looked at Toris puzzled. He was surprised that the other wasn't in here mocking him or something.

"Ah well..." Toris had a feeling Ivan would not want America to know that he had managed to kill him. So he opted for another half truth instead, "He is currently taking it easy to recover from the gunshot wound you gave him."

"So I did hit him." He had a small smirk on his face. "To be honest, I don't really remember. It all happened so fast." He sighed. "So this might be awkward but I was wondering if you could help me to the bathroom...I've been thinking about how to tackle this for a while and I don't even think I can crawl there by myself. Also have you seen my cellphone?"

"Oh." Toris had sort of forgotten about that bit of business. Well there wasn't really anyone else here to help him so I guess it would be up to him. "Yes of course, here let me help you." He stood and wrapped an arm around Alfred's shoulders to help him up. "And I put your phone on the bedside table to your left. Ready to stand?"

"Yeah," he said moving slowly and leaning on Toris. "Thank you man, I don't know how I would have managed this without you." They walked slowly and his head pulsed in time with their set him down lightly on the toilet. "Hey dude I hate to ask but I'm starving...could you maybe get me a snack?"

"Yes of course! That is quite understandable. I will give you some privacy and go down to the kitchen." Toris gave a small awkward smile and left the room. He was about to go downstairs when he decided to check on Ivan.

He gave a tentative knock at the door first just in case he had woken up. When he received no response he opened the door and stepped inside, quickly shutting the door behind him. Soviet laid upon the large bed on the left of the room. He had laid his scarf neatly folded on the table beside him knowing he would want it near once he had awoken. Walking over Toris looked down at the peaceful face before him. Ivan looked much less menacing like this, but he supposed that's what happened when you were a cadaver. It had been three days and Soviet still had not so much as breathed. Well no use watching over a dead body. He left the room and headed down to the kitchen to find something for Alfred.

After going to the bathroom he hoisted himself over to the sink. God did his head hurt. He hadn't been this messed up in a while, he looked like he came out of a horror movie with bandages wrapped around his head and in a white nightgown. Toris did a pretty good job cleaning up, however he did see quite a bit of blood that was missed in his hair. Curiosity getting the better of him he unwrapped his bandage. It didn't look too bad in the front, just a large bruise and some blood, where he assumed the pipe had hit him. However, when his hand reached around to the back he was in for a surprise. "Holy fuck" he muttered to himself. He must have fallen on table edge or something because there was a large gash in his head. America felt around on his head trying to get a better understanding of what happened...god it hurt but no wonder he was so messed up, he had a cracked skull at minimum. After feeling his own skull he felt nausea rise within him that forced him to sit on the toilet again.

It dawned on him how much work he had waiting for him at home, especially since the Berlin wall fell. He wasn't someone to care about work but he kind of felt bad just up and leaving everything. His boss would probably kill him or at least never let him leave the country if he ever found out what happened.

Realizing he was losing a lot of blood from removing the bandages, Alfred put them back on haphazardly. However, they needed to be compressed and he wasn't able to do a good job putting them back on. His foggy mind thought it would be a good idea to lay down on the floor. It was a nice type of cool, the white tile making a lovely pillow for his heated skin. He was probably getting blood from the back of his head onto the floor... "Sorry Toris," he muttered.

Drifting off into unconsciousness his thoughts took over. Why was he even here? Why did he even try to meet Ivan? A memory from the beginning of the cold war popped into his mind, it had a very bittersweet feeling and twisted his stomach. At least he thought it was a memory, though everything had a surreal quality to it. He walked down a long hallway into a secluded room where Ivan was sitting. It appeared to be just Ivan in the room and for some reason the other nation was avoided his eyes, why was that? Oh, right, Vietnam was beside him. Alfred made sure she was beside him for this meeting. He wanted to see Ivan's face, it wasn't until he kissed her that Alfred noticed it, the betrayal and jealousy tinging that dull violet gaze. Even if it wasn't necessarily good Alfred loved seeing that. It caused him to get a weird high. Later that night he had received a rather hard slap from Vietnam, which was more than fair on her part. After that Vietnam and his relationship fell apart. He had promised to take care of her and love her but she saw that wasn't what his intentions were…he had just wanted her to prove a point to his rival. Alfred hated to admit it but he wanted Ivan's approval…he wanted to be recognized by him. Heck it wasn't difficult at all to get Arthur's approval, it wasn't that special really. Not like how hard he had been working to get Ivan's…he didn't understand his feelings but he had acted on his gut and thought maybe this trip could help him…

...

Once Toris grabbed some bread and cheese from the kitchen for Alfred he made his way back upstairs. He knocked but didn't get much response so he opened the door. He didn't see America in the main room so he set down the tray on the bedside table. He went into the bathroom to see if he was still in there and he found him sprawled out on the floor. He noticed America had removed his bandages, so he must've passed out from blood loss. He grabbed the med kit from the medicine cabinet and began to clean his head and bandage the wound again.

Toris tried to lift America but unfortunately had no luck. He would need to get Estonia to help him if he had any hope of lifting the nation. After a few minutes of searching he found him in the library. The two went back to Alfred's room where they picked up the blonde and returned him to bed. Toris left the bread on the table for when he woke up but took the cheese with him back to the kitchen.

Alfred woke up to yet another nasty headache, he was getting rather sick of it. However, he quickly noticed there was food this time. He ate it all at lightning speed, he felt like he hadn't eaten in years...god he was craving a burger...sadly that would have to wait for now. Reaching for his phone he groaned, 22 missed calls and a handful of voice mails. The first voicemail was from his supervisor Cindy, "Hey Alfred where are you? We need you for the meeting with the UK." Second voice mail was once again from Cindy, "Alfred this isn't funny, we have to meet within a couple hours...please hurry up, the president isn't happy with me." Third voice mail from his boss, "Hey Alfred, are you avoiding Cindy for some reason? If she upset you or anything I can always fire her? Give me a call when you can?" Rolling onto the fourth a clearly annoyed British voice met his ears, "Is there a reason you decided to skip on our meeting? Now we have to make it up...can't you think of anyone besides yourself?"

"Asshole" Alfred muttered. Fifth voicemail from the president, "...Alfred what's going on? You haven't been answering your emails or phone calls? ...I'm one to respect your independence and all but if you don't respond to your emails or call in 24 hours I will send in our investigators on you." His expression morphed to one of panic, he hadn't thought that far ahead. He knew he had a meeting with the UK shortly after coming to the Soviet Union but he figured he could make it back in time easily. He'd bet the president already sent the squad to go find him...so the president probably figured out he wasn't in the USA anymore. He had to make a very important call to his brother.

"Hello," Canada answered sleepily.

"Bro I need your help!" Alfred exclaimed.

"Alfred?" he frowned looking at his phone, he hadn't really payed attention to who called. "What's going on? Your president and people have been looking for you."

"Shit" Alfred said. "Umm, what did you say?"

"I didn't say anything. I wasn't there, my prime minister was." the nation yawned.

"My idea still could work" Alfred sighed in relief, "I really need you to cover for me! Like say we were fighting aliens in the Canadian Rockies and we didn't have any service!"

"What? You should tell me what's going on if you want me to go along with that stupid plan. I'm not saying we were fighting aliens, I'll just keep it to hiking in the Rockies. So tell me?" Canada asked.

"Well...I flew to the Soviet Union." he mumbled.

"What...WHAT did you just say?"

"Don't make me say it again."

"Fine, but god dammit. That's one of the stupidest things you've done. You do realize you are a country and you are at war with them...?"

With a sigh he admitted, "Yeah...I had some info and thought I'd check it out."

"...you're lucky you aren't dead." Canada grumbled.

"Funny thing was...I was...but I shot him too." Alfred muttered.

"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO? START WORLD WAR III YOU DUMBASS!" groaning in frustration he asked, "Should we start preparing for war?"

"I don't think so...none of our bosses know about this."

"Well they know something is up..."

"So please cover me?" Alfred pleaded

"Fine, I'll try but there's only so much I can do...I can't talk to you anymore tonight. I can't believe you." He hung up.

Sighing Alfred wiped away the slight tears in the corners of his eyes and laid back in bed.

...

At first all Ivan could see was darkness. It was so dense that he believed he could even hear the darkness. However, the sounds eventually became that of wind and the sea. "Why are you doing this."

Ivan opened his eyes, he recognized this beach. In the distance he saw numerous ships with massive sails. He realized the person behind him had asked a question. Turning he asked, "Sorry what was that?"

The blonde before him huffed and crossed his arms. "You heard me, why are you protecting me? I don't need your help."

Ivan chuckled, oh yes he remembered this. It was during America's civil war. "Dа, I am sure you do not. But humor me once. I wish to do nice thing."

"How do I know I can trust you? And for that matter I don't wanna be in your debt. Last I need is you asking for favors later." America continued to glare at him.

"Trust me, I do not want favor. You have done much for me. Personally, I want to see you thrive as nation." Ivan smiled warmly at him. It was true after all. He felt the boy could become an amazing nation if given the chance. So he wanted to help give him that chance. Ivan closed his eyes remembering. America had been nothing but nice to Ivan since they met, well minus his usual arrogant nature. No one had been there for him so he wanted to be there for the boy.

"Hey are you listening?" Ivan was torn from his thoughts and opened his eyes. This time he was in front of a crackling camp fire. A couple feet to his right sat his companion who was staring at him with slight annoyance.

"Of course I am." Ivan responded with his usual grin.

America sighed, "Yeah alright look just listen this time. I wanted to say thank you."

Ivan was taken off guard, "Thank you? For what?"

"You're really gonna make me say it?" America looked away into the fire, "I'm saying thank you for protecting me, well my borders, during the civil war. It was a big help."

Ivan swore he could almost see the beginnings of a blush on his companion's face. "You are welcome. I am glad my involvement meant so much to you." he truly was touched. No one usually appreciated his help let alone thanked him for anything. He even felt a little warmth grow in his chest, whatever that meant he didn't know but it did feel quite nice.

America stood and turned away, "It didn't mean THAT much jeez I was just trying to be courteous you bastard."

Ivan could tell he was lying a bit, sometimes the American really was a terrible liar. Giggling he stood as well, "Of course, what was I thinking."

Alfred suddenly became very still. "America?" Ivan tried, he received no response. He noticed the fire and the night sky was gone. They were suddenly in a long dimly lit tunnel. "America are you ok?" he took a tentative step forward.

The America before him whirled around gun in hand, "Don't move commie." This Alfred was different from the last one. Instead of eyes wide and warm like the sky they were cold and full of hate. These were the eyes he was familiar with.

He didn't move a muscle, "Dа comrade I won't-"

"I'm not your comrade!" He snarled, "How could I be? You're horrible, cold, and cruel. Are you proud of the things you've done?!"

He could tell America was close to snapping but he didn't know what to do. Nothing he seemed to do was helping. Besides, he was right wasn't he? He'd done horrible things to those around him, he remembers it all. But it was what nations did wasn't it? Alfred had done just as many terrible things. Why did no one else understand that? "America I-"

"No! I'm sick of hearing your shit." A twisted smile appeared on the blonde's face, "Go to hell."

Ivan felt pain tear through his chest as the bullet went through him. Once again he was thrown into darkness but this time there was pain. So much pain. Why was he still trying? Anytime he tried to make friends or do the right thing he did the opposite. Especially when it came to America. That one hurt more than most. Maybe it was because he once had such high hopes for their relationship? Or maybe it was simply because he felt if anyone were to understand him it would be Alfred. Whatever the reason he hated this pain and wanted to be out of this dark place. Because these thoughts were too much to bare.

...

The next morning Alfred awoke to more food by his bedside. Toris was the best. He was going to look at his phone but it was completely dead...well that might be a problem. His head still throbbed but he could get up without feeling like he would faint or vomit at least. He hadn't noticed yesterday but instead of his usual clothes there was white cloth fluttering around him. Was he wearing a nightgown? Only older women wore nightgowns. "...ugh" he muttered, looking for his clothes and letting out a triumphant laugh when he found them nicely folded on a nearby table. Alfred decided he would have to thank Toris later.

He really needed to get back...he didn't want to cause more troubles for his brother. Peeking his head out of the door he saw a long, empty hallway. The only sounds to be heard were the occasional cream of the house or whistle of wind from outside. As no one was there to stop him he left the room, but realized he didn't know which way the exit was. Spying a pair of heavy, wooden doors at the end of the hall he decided to try there first. Perhaps it would lead to the main hall or something?

Peering inside Alfred found a dark room with the curtains pulled shut. He glanced about before his eyes fell on a massive bed along the back wall. Wait a minute...this was was definitely Ivan's room, the exact opposite way he had intended had to go. However, he couldn't deny his curiosity...quietly creeping in America eased the door shut behind him. Slinking over to the bed he saw Ivan nestled in the sheets, he looked awful. Dark circles adorned his eyes and his cheeks were hollow, a sickly pallor painted his skin. Peaking out from the blankets he noticed a bit of white cloth and assumed he must be wearing one of those terrible nightgowns as well. If anything needed to change about this country it was those ugly monstrosities.

Moving in closer he noticed Ivan wasn't wearing his scarf. Alfred tried to think back to a time when he remembered seeing the Russian without it and couldn't...heck he was probably born with that scarf. Upon closer inspection he saw bandages covering the skin, did he always wear those? Alfred's curiosity got the better of him again and his hands moved with a mind of their own, starting to pull away the bandages.

Something felt wrong. Of course Ivan felt the dull ache all over his body from the events he hoped had recently transpired. But that wasn't what felt off. As he regained his senses he realized with a jolt that someone was next to him and they were much too close for comfort. That and their hands were at his neck pulling at his bandages. He snapped his hand up to grab the wrist of his assailant.

Looking down at the once slumbering Russian he held his breath. Keeping a firm grip on the wrist in his hand Ivan groaned and blinked open his eyes. At first he saw a clear blue like the summer sky. He could do nothing but stare for a minute into this beautiful blue until his eyes adjusted and he was able to finally focus on the face hovering above him. It surprised him to find his assailant to be none other than America. His blue eyes frozen open wide in what appeared to be shock. His neck still tingled slightly from the unexpected touch from a moment ago. Finally he found his voice, "What are you doing." He almost cringed at the sound of his own voice, it was exceptionally coarse with disuse and heavily accented.

Alfred felt panic begin to flutter in his chest, "Umm… Well I got lost...I was just leaving." Now full on blushing in embarrassment due to their proximity.

Leaving? Ivan didn't want him to leave. He didn't quite understand why but he felt like there was something he was forgetting. He wanted to talk to him about something? But he was too tired to manage all of this and instead just replied "No."

"What?" He blinked down at Ivan in in confusion.

"Do not leave." he said quietly. He was still lost in thought. Why did he want America to stay? Surely there was a sound reason. But he just couldn't think through the fog of his mind.

"Umm...sure." Alfred relented, rearranging himself to sit on the bed beside him. Was Ivan planning something? Tricking him into letting his guard down?

Ivan felt relieved once the blonde sat beside him and let out a small sigh. He still didn't quite know why he wanted the man to stay but he was very happy he did. Now that the immediate shock of the situation had passed he found the fog in his mind beginning to clear. He slowly remembered the events leading up to this point and in turn remembered what he had originally called America here for. "That night in office you mentioned note. What note?" he looked at the blonde with curiosity. He had already made a fool of himself asking the other to stay, he may as well get answers while he was at it.

Alfred didn't really want to argue, he was still worn out from their last encounter. So he settled on telling the truth, well parts of it. "Someone in a dark alley gave me a note detailing a place and time...so I thought I'd check it out. And that's when I ran into you."

"Oh." Ivan didn't really know what to say to that. It just seemed so...simple. He had assumed America to be in on this scheme against him but from what he made it sound like he had next to no idea who gave him the note let alone why. "You followed note from alley stranger because you were curious? Does not sound smart."

"True." He chuckled. "But hey, I'm not known for thinking things out before acting." Swinging his legs up he laid down on the bed next to him, his head pounding. "God, I have such a nasty headache." Alfred never was one for understanding personal space.

"...I can tell." Ivan stated pointedly at the blonde next to him on the bed. Normally anyone stupid enough to do such an action would be bloody by now but he just couldn't find the energy to do much about it. He supposed it was only natural seeing as how he was still recovering from a fatal wound. At the mention of America's headache Ivan chuckled, "Да, metal pipe can have such effect."

"Gee, I forgot how funny you can be..." he hummed looking over to Ivan with a slight glare. "And how are you feeling big guy?" Lips spreading into a smug grin.

He turned to look at America, replying with a raised brow. "Lovely. Like I was born yesterday." Ivan hadn't realized just how close he'd gotten until he turned to look. Their shoulders were very nearly touching with their faces only maybe a foot away from each other. When America said he didn't understand personal space he wasn't joking.

"Ok that was actually kind of funny, good job." He chuckled.

"I can be joking once in awhile too." Ivan replied casually closing his eyes. He felt strangely relaxed in this moment. He blamed it on his still groggy mind and body. "America what is your opinion of me?" The second he said it he regretted it. Why did he say that? Sure he had been thinking about it for a while now but thinking it and saying it were two very different things. He silently cursed his own lips.

Alfred was going to retort with some snappy comeback but but stopped himself. Pausing momentarily he could only hear their breathing in the dark. After some thought he replied carefully, "...I don't hate you if that's what you mean."

Ivan released a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Is that so?" he chuckled, "I do not think many share opinion."

Without missing a beat Alfred responded with a shrug, "Then they are wrong."

"You cannot possibly believe that." Ivan stared at the blond next to him. Now he knew the man was joking with him. Why else would he say something that was such a blatant lie.

Confused he raised an eyebrow, "I wasn't lying dude. Don't get me wrong, I think you're crazy but that doesn't mean I hate you? Heck sometimes I even admire you."

Ivan felt his cheeks heat up slightly as he stared in what he imagined must be complete shock. Alfred admired HIM? There was no way. He couldn't. Ivan had always admired many things about Alfred but never the other way around. But why would he lie about this? He would get nothing out of lying in this moment. So could that mean he really was telling the truth? Ivan looked away from the blonde's face, "Thank you America."

"Umm. No problem dude." He replied awkwardly, his cheeks dusting a faint pink in response. He hadn't thought Ivan would appreciate a comment like that from him...it was kind of a surprise.

After a moment of silence Ivan spoke, "I feel I should admit...I have also admired much about you. Especially confidence and charisma. I wish I could make friends like you do." He finished with a sad smile.

Alfred faced him, scooting closer then he realized. "Really? I mean I can be pretty awesome but I figured you would be the last person to think that." His smile was bright, a flash of perfect teeth and warmth. Ivan turned at the sound of the others voice. The slight insult in the blonde's words were quickly forgotten however. He was even closer now and while Ivan had been mildly unsettled before now he was outright dumbfounded. The other man was so close he swore he could feel his breath ghost across his skin and it caused his mind to go utterly blank and his breath to catch. No one had ever willingly gotten so close to him besides Yao and Francis...but that had somehow felt different than this.

Noticing something didn't seem quite right Alfred frowned, "Huh, you ok dude?" He leaned forward and placed his forehead against Ivan's. "Oh man, you're pretty hot. Like I can go get Toris? He might be able to help you?" Ivan's brain had officially short circuited. The second America placed his forehead upon his it felt as if his heart had stopped. Sure Ivan had been this close to another nation in the past. But something about this time in particular made him react so strongly. Ivan just simply stared into the eyes that reminded him of sunny skies and warmth.

Then he heard a tentative knock at the door. This broke him out of his trancelike state and he pulled away from America calling out "Dа Toris?" Alfred's eyes widened and within seconds he was scrambling off the bed and hiding behind the curtains. He usually didn't care about reading the atmosphere but heck he really didn't want this situation to be misunderstood.

Ivan was honestly surprised by the dexterity with which America scrambled behind the drapes. Toris opened the door and entered the room to find Ivan awake and quite alive. _"Аh, master Ivan you're awake."_

 _"I am, I assume you cleaned the mess."_ It wasn't a question because he knew Toris had.

 _"Of course."_ he replied. Ivan made a sound of approval. A minute passed before Toris found the confidence to speak, _"M-master Ivan...your boss would like to meet with you."  
_  
 _"Very well. Tell him that I will see him tomorrow."_ Ivan didn't much feel like meeting with him right now.

 _"No...he wants to have a meeting now. But I can tell him you are not feeling well if you wish?"_ Ivan's eyebrows knit together, he wished he could say no but he knew he couldn't.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, _"No, I would rather he didn't know about this. Tell him I will be there shortly."_

Toris nodded and after shooting Ivan a sad smile he left the room, closing the door behind him. Ivan shoved his way up into a sitting position and waited to catch his breath.

Alfred peaked his head out of the curtains when he heard Toris shut the door. Thinking to himself, this isn't awkward at all...totally not awkward...trying to make it less awkward in his head. Not seeing Toris he thought it was safe to get out from behind the curtains. "So umm...is everything ok?" He asked sheepishly, yup definitely not awkward.

"Dа." Ivan replied curtly. He really wished America hadn't been there for that. At least he couldn't speak Russian so he didn't really understand what had happened. However, the blonde could unfortunately read the atmosphere at the most inopportune of times. He raised his head, no hint of his usual smile, "My boss wishes to meet me now."

"Ahh...You don't seem too happy about that?" Alfred prodded curiously.

Ivan snorted, "No." he swung his legs over the side of the bed, "But I do not know many who like meeting bosses." he replied attempting to put Alfred's curiosity to rest. He didn't need him prying into this. He tried to stand, feeling himself wobble a bit but ultimately found his balance. His limbs felt heavy and awkward but he could probably manage.

"True." Alfred agreed, hugging himself as a shiver ran down his back. "I'm really not happy to meet mine, I had like 20 missed phone calls yesterday morning..." his expression becoming haunted.

"Your boss calls that much?" Ivan was impressed really, that took dedication. His boss rarely called him, instead communicating through email or Toris. "...when will you be going back?" He didn't know why he asked this or why he cared. But for some reason Ivan didn't want the blonde to leave yet. Especially after meeting with his boss, it might be nice to have him around. Wait...when did he start to think this? Had he always thought this way? He was having a hard time remembering.

"Hmm, good question?!" He shook his head with a chuckle. "Well I had a plan to catch a private plane to Europe...I think that was two days ago now so I missed that."

"Oh, so it will take couple days to reschedule a new one?" Ivan was impressed the blonde even had a plan, though he didn't quite follow it. He wished he could say he was disappointed. It was frustrating how confusing this all was. He wished he could just make sense of his thoughts already.

"Yeah, now I'll have to go Canada." He muttered in slight horror.

"Canada? That sounds like headache." he chuckled walking over to the wardrobe on the other side of the room and began to pull out his dress uniform and boots. "You sound almost scared of brother." which Ivan found quite hilarious.

"I'm not scared of him!" Alfred protested, puffing out his chest "It's just...sometimes he's scary..."

If America was telling the truth then that would be quite interesting. Ivan knew Canada as the soft spoken and sweet type, not one to be scary. "I will take your word for it. I hope to see side of him one day." he replied amused. Thinking of his boss another memory came to mind, one he had been questioning for years. "Alfred…" Ivan murmured softly, staring down at the uniform in his hands.

The quiet tone startled him, looking at the other nation warily America responded suspiciously, "Yeah?" What was that look on his face? It was distant but he seemed almost scared.

Before he had a chance to stop himself the words left his lips on a quiet breath of air. "Why did you stop writing to me?" Those letters had become a bright source of friendship in his life, perhaps even more than that at one point in time...when they had just stopped…

Alfred froze then, not knowing what to say. The letters had been important to him, he could even say Ivan had been his first real friend among the nations. He'd continued to write for a short while even after the responses had stopped but eventually even he stopped writing. Why would he have bothered to continue when the other hadn't put in the effort to do so? "...why did you?" he murmured.

The air between them was tense, laden with expectation and something almost like regret. Ivan met those too blue eyes, thoughts a cacophony of questions he wished to ask, things he wanted to say, shout, and cry. But instead the two simply stared, their thoughts unreadable to each other as they both wondered why. Violet eyes flickered back down to the uniform he held a bit too tightly, "Excuse me I will only be moment." he fled to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Turning on the shower he forced all thoughts of the letters from his mind and undressed as the water warmed. Removing the bandages on his chest and looking in the mirror he finally got a look at the wound Alfred had given him. It was quite an ugly mark, scabbed over with bits of blood still there right in the center of his chest. America had managed to only just barely miss his heart it seemed. 'So he really was shooting to kill.' he mused. He would expect nothing less really. Removing the bandages from his neck as well he entered the shower before he caught a glimpse of his neck in the mirror. That was one part of him he did not wish to see.

'Why would he say he's only going to be a moment and then turn on the shower?' Alfred thought bitterly, flopping down on the bed and trying to forget about the letters. Would it be rude if he left and went to go get something to eat like he originally wanted? He hadn't managed to put too much thought into it before his body acted for him, his eyes drifted closed and he fell asleep. His body was working overtime to heal him and it made him incredibly exhausted.

He only showered briefly to remove a bit of the dried blood that still clung to him. He quickly dressed in his dark blue uniform and boots, making sure to replace his neck bandages, and finished getting ready before opening the door back out to the bedroom. Glancing around he couldn't immediately see America. Had he gotten impatient and left? He could've sworn he only took about 15 minutes. The blonde was quickly found slumbering on the bed. Ivan simply blinked in mild surprise, 'He really can fall asleep anywhere, even in his enemies bed it seemed.' Walking over he looked upon America's sleeping form, he looked so peaceful. He almost didn't want to wake him but he also didn't wish to leave his enemy unattended in his private quarters. So he lightly poked the blonde's cheek, "America, wake up."

"Five more minutes Arthur," the nation mumbled in annoyance while swatting at the Russian's hands and rolling over.

Ivan would be lying if he said he wasn't annoyed, he was trying to be nice by waking the American up gently. But it seemed he would have to be more direct. He then caught sight of the blonde cowlick. He had heard rumors that this hair in particular was extra sensitive much like the Italians. Well he was about to find out. Ivan reached forward and gave the hair a tug. "Nnngh," Alfred groaned in slight discomfort. That was not the reaction Ivan had been expecting. Then again it was a rather light tug. Maybe if he pulled a little harder he would wake the other. Giving another harder tug he hoped for a rude awakening.

In response Alfred moaned, his hands grasping at the bed sheets for a moment. He was still fast asleep, but his face was a bright shade of red and his breathing came out in labored pants. Oh. OH. THAT was what they meant by sensitive. Ivan blushed lightly and quickly let go of the hair, that wasn't the reaction he was intending to get. He was torn, he wanted to wake America but after getting him riled up like this he thought it might be awkward. Maybe he could get Toris to handle it. Grabbing his scarf he wrapped it about his neck as he left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

A cold rush of wind awoke the blonde from his slumber, a shiver running over his body as his eyes cracked open. If there was one thing that could wake him up it was the cold. "What the hell...?" He muttered to himself still breathing hard. Looking around it didn't take him long to realize where he was and what kind of condition his body was in with Ivan nowhere in sight. "WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK!" In a state of mildly confused panic he hopped off the bed and ran towards the room he was staying. Alfred couldn't manage to wrap his mind around what had just transpired. He had a wet dream sleeping in that communist bastard's bed. Running into his bathroom he knew he had to take care of a certain...problem. However to his dismay the only thing he could think of was Ivan...'What the fuck am I supposed to do with that.' his thoughts grumbled bitterly. But the more he went the more open he became about the idea of Ivan and him...imagining Ivan being the one doing this… After he finished he could only stare at himself in the mirror in disappointment, "I know you have the body of a hormonal teenager but come on…" he muttered to himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Eventually Ivan found Toris and told him to get America to wake up and leave his room. He then left before having to answer any questions Toris might have. Outside he found the car that was sent to pick him up and got inside. It was a long ride to the government building his boss currently commandeered. Ivan walked inside and was promptly greeted by the usual sight of guards lining the long hall. As he walked towards the doors at the end he noticed how the guards avoided making eye contact with him. Even his own people were afraid of him. Once he reached the double doors they were opened by a pair of guards and he stepped inside as they were promptly shut behind him. "Hello Ivan." the voice came from the old man behind the desk.

Ordinarily a man such as this wouldn't cause him to feel any fear, he'd be able to crush a human like this in an instant. But this man was his boss which meant he couldn't raise a finger to him in most cases. No matter what he did to him. He removed his visor cap and replied stone faced, "Good afternoon sir."

"How are you feeling? Toris tells me you have been a bit ill." he inquired.

"Better, I am able to manage. I apologize for the trouble." he lied smoothly. He really couldn't care less.

"That is alright, we managed without you." he smiled, almost gloating. "By the way, have you seen America lately?"

"America? No, why?" Ivan was on guard, he assumed America's boss must have become concerned of the others absence and began asking around.

His boss rose and began to come out from behind the desk, "Apparently he is missing. So you know nothing of his whereabouts?" The man stopped before Ivan standing almost a head shorter than him.

Ivan looked the man straight in the eyes, "No." he replied, resolute in staring down the man before him. He might not be able to raise a hand against him but he didn't have to take it sitting down either.

His boss chuckled before back handing the nation across the face. Ivan's head whipped to the side at the impact, cheek stinging. It wouldn't bruise but it definitely stung, especially his pride. "Do not lie to me Soviet. I know it was actually America here the night of our meeting and not a Polish spy. Unless I am wrong?"

His fists clenched and shook, he wished with all his being he could punch the smile off the man's face. Ivan refused to move and continued to stare at the floor, "No, you are not."

Grabbing the nation's chin he forced him to meet his eyes, "Look at me when you speak." Ivan glared at the man, "You have had no contact with America since then?"

Ivan's voice shook with rage, "No. I am not stupid enough to start war." Which was partially true, he would never do anything to start an all out nuclear war with America. The whole world would lose. But that wouldn't stop him from trying to keep the other in check.

His boss smiled, "Good." he let go of the nations face. "Because you know what will happen if you are lying." Ivan caught a movement from the corner of his eye before there was splitting pain on the left side of his face. The force staggered him in his weakened state, he started to feel a small stream of blood slowly slide down his cheek. The guard lowered his gun and returned to his post, "Right?"

"Yes." Ivan hated this man with every fiber of his being. He couldn't wait for his death, he just hoped it was slow and painful.

"Lovely. You may go Soviet." the man turned back to his desk and sat.

"Thank you." Ivan turned on his heel and exited putting his hat back on.

Once inside the car he attempted to contain his ever growing rage. Pain radiated from below his eye, he knew that would bruise. He doubted his boss believed anything he said, he never did. To him Ivan was simply a lying monster who only embodied the worst of his country. He didn't see him as something that could be changed or reasoned with, he saw him as something old that needed to be broken so it could be replaced with something new. Sure anything he did wasn't as bad as his previous bosses but it still was less than favorable. At least this time it had been relatively tame, only a mild face injury. Besides, it might all be over soon enough. Ivan watched the sunset through the window as he was brought back home and tried to quiet his rage and the thoughts swirling in his head.

…

Now Alfred had to find a new way home, preferably through Alaska and down into Canada to make his story believable. Before leaving to make plans he decided to make something to eat. As he was walking down the hall he passed by Estonia and Latvia who just stopped and stared. It wasn't like they doubted Toris but the reality of America coming to the middle of the Soviet Union to meet Ivan seemed impossible. All they could do was wonder if this was the start of the end of the world. Alfred payed no mind, just waving politely and walking on. He knocked on the kitchen door frame before entering, finding Toris and Ukraine preparing food while Poland was just sitting on the counter swinging his legs. "Hey dudes, I don't want to be rude but I'm starving and I really need to head out so umm could I have some food?" he asked.

Toris, Ukraine and Poland looked at him with a slightly worried look. Toris responded lightly, "I can get you something to eat Mr. America, why don't you go sit in the dining room?"

Alfred shrugged, walking over to the room only to find it empty. Heading back to the kitchen he hopped up onto the counter and sat beside Poland. The three of them glanced at the blonde in concern, "Mr. America is something wrong?" Toris questioned.

"Nope," He smiled.

"Is there a reason you are in the kitchen?" The brunette pondered.

"Am I not allowed to be in here? Cause it's kind of boring sitting alone, I'd prefer to just sit here and talk to y'all." Alfred chuckled.

Poland rolled his eyes, "Sure thing freedom boy, just don't talk us all to death."

America laughed, "I'll try my best." Stomach growling again he looked to Lithuania, "Hey Toris, can I have grilled cheese?"

"I'm sorry Mr. America but I don't know what that is." He responded sheepishly.

"Do you just put cheese on pan?" Ukraine attempted to clarify.

Alfred just laughed harder, "No way! It's way better than that. Here today's your lucky day cause I'll show you!" Grabbing an apron the blonde quickly found bread, cheese, and butter. Unsure what to do Toris just kind of stood back.

"If he burns down the place I'm not the one telling Soviet." Poland commented.

"Oh I doubt will be that bad…" Ukraine reassured weakly.

Humming to himself Alfred worked on making the grilled cheese. "You guys wanna try some?"

"Yeah I'll pass." Poland scoffed, hopping down from the counter and leaving the kitchen, "Let me know when something edible is done."

"I think I will have to decline as well." Ukraine smiled politely.

Toris really didn't want to but he felt rude declining. So, he tried it. "It's very good ." he was lying, it was truly quite vile, but he really didn't want to insult the other.

"Haha, well I'm glad," Alfred responded with a big smile, quickly finishing his own. "Well, I got stuff to do so I'm going to head out now!" Alfred said very sure of himself.

However, Toris quickly drew his attention, he didn't know if Ivan would be ok with Alfred running around unsupervised. "I'll drive you around Mr. America, it would be my pleasure!" Toris said nervously…he wasn't sure how to approach this with Alfred. He had Ivan's personality figured out and could do his best not to upset him.

"If you wanted to hang out with me Toris all you had to do was ask!" Alfred clapped the slim man on the shoulder invitingly.

After a quick goodbye to Ukraine, Toris took Alfred back to his hotel. The blonde had to pack all of his things and pay. The brunette was shocked by the sheer number of weapons the blonde had, though the fact that most were guns wasn't too surprising. He literally had a whole duffle bag full, let alone the ones on his body the night he had found him. It was no wonder that he had managed to shoot Ivan, this guy was obsessed with guns.

Toris was further surprised at Alfred's ability to shift between emotions, he was jokes and giggles all day but he could shut it off in an instant. It was like he was another person…he needed to meet what Toris assumed was an American spy and managed to disappear from sight within seconds only to reappear shortly thereafter. The brunette had also been under the impression that Alfred couldn't understand Russian but as it turned out Alfred could speak it near fluently, his accent being just a bit off.. After today Toris was starting to get an understanding of the American a lot more, he only played stupid…he was definitely on par with Ivan which was frightening in it's own right. Once home Toris couldn't help but think to himself in slight horror, 'He probably knew I wouldn't like the grilled cheese and made me eat it anyway…'

...

Later, the car pulled up to the house only for a second as Ivan got out and walked up to the door. He entered, not bothering to be quiet with the massive doors and began to take off his wet boots at the door.

Toris stood nearby in shock. Ivan just returned home and Poland and Mr. America were making a mess in the kitchen. Apparently they had really wanted to make a cake, they should have been done by now but they spent an hour arguing about which color was better for the cake, pink or blue. So they just decided to make a two tier cake with one being pink and one being blue. Toris scrambled to the door, upset with himself as he saw Ivan had let himself in. "Hello Master Ivan, welcome back, sorry I didn't get the door." He said sheepishly looking away.

"Hello Toris, is fine." Ivan replied curtly. He heard the commotion from the kitchen and looked towards the door, "What is going on in there?" He walked to the door and entered the kitchen only to find it in complete disarray. Almost every surface had a fine layer of flour and globs of pink and blue icing were scattered everywhere. He could feel his barely contained anger rising at the sight before him.

Alfred noticed everyone in the kitchen freeze so he turned around and saw Soviet standing in the doorway. A large red mark on his cheek was already darkening, the skin freshly scabbed over. Alfred knew what had happened but he chose to pretend not to notice. "Hey dude, welcome back! Want to try our cake?" He offered with a smile.

Ivan simply glared at the blonde, "Nyet, I do not wish to try your monstrosity. All I want is you to clean mess rather than burden my household." he finished through clenched teeth.

Now America was amused, he loved seeing Ivan's expressions, even his angry ones fascinated him. "Don't be such a buzz kill, we were just having some fun." He smirked, his posture relaxed with his hands on hips.

It took every ounce of control Ivan had to not leap across the room the punch America's smug face. "Defiling my home is fun to you?!" he growled.

"That's kind of a harsh word to use." the blonde responded with a frown. "But the saying goes, don't knock it before you try it!" Charming smile back in place he held out a piece for Soviet.

Ivan's eye twitched, he couldn't believe this was actually happening. He kept blinking to see if the image of America's shit eating grin and that ridiculous monstrosity of food would go away. But they didn't, they and the mess stayed, burning his vision. Ivan felt his lips twist into a smile "Da, you are right." he stepped forward taking hold of the plate the cake was on. "But first, you try." To which he quickly shoved the plate upwards into America's face.

Wiping the cake off his face Alfred revealed a wicked smile that would rival the Russian's. Laughing obnoxiously he picked up the rest of the cake on the counter next to him and smashed it into Ivan's face. "I didn't know you wanted a food fight?"

Everyone in the immediate vicinity had a look of pure horror on their face. No one disrespected Soviet like that and got away with it. Poland and Ukraine started inching towards the swinging door until they were through and booked it upstairs. Toris did much the same from the entryway while saying a small prayer for Alfred's safety. Ivan was livid to say the least. He felt utterly humiliated for the second time that day. However, the difference this time was that he could actually hurt his aggressor. He began to chuckle darkly as he wiped the cake away as best he could. "Oh America, you think you are funny da? We will see who has last laugh." Ivan charged ahead and threw his whole weight onto Alfred.

Alfred made a pained sound as he was smashed into the ledge of the counter, sliding to the floor. He could have easily pushed Soviet off of him but chose not too, interested in where this might go. Quickly recovering from the none too graceful impact Ivan straddled the blonde's waist and did just what he had been wanting to for so long and punched his smug mouth with all the force he could muster. Alfred took the punch, deciding on his next course of action. However, he put his arms up in resistance so he wouldn't take another beating like that to his face.

Ivan barely noticed the lack of resistance coming from the nation below him and continued his assault. He could feel himself tiring with each punch and knew he wouldn't have the energy to continue much longer. But his rage fueled him and he couldn't find it within himself to stop until he noticed the defensive stance America had taken and his easy acceptance of the attacks. He was immediately infuriated and confused, "Why are you not fighting back?! I could kill you!" he bellowed. It was true, what if he hadn't noticed and just continued. What if he had killed the blonde again? Sure they could just come back but that doesn't make the process enjoyable.

"But do you feel any better? You seem like the person to hold a lot of your emotions in so I thought I'd help you let some of it out." Alfred grunted.

Ivan became stock still and stared, simply stared, at the man below him. America was trying to...help him? He didn't know what to do let alone what to say. His body was suddenly numb. He had just attacked America out of blind, partially misplaced rage and the blonde had just LET him. There were so many thoughts and emotions racing through his head. Anger was there sure as well as disbelief, but also guilt, shame, and self loathing. How could he have done this. Sure this was his enemy and he HAD made a mess of his home and taunted him. But it didn't warrant treatment like this. He could already see the others hands bruising from where he had hit him. In this instant he was no better than the uncontrollable monster his boss made him out to be. This was all too much to handle.

Without a word Ivan got up and began to stride towards the door.

Alfred stayed on the ground but made sure he was loud enough to get Ivan's attention, "In all seriousness, is my cake really that bad?"

Ivan stopped in the doorframe. Did America honestly just make a joke? He gave a weak chuckle, "You really are an airhead." And walked out the door.

Alfred was actually in a great amount of pain, but gosh he bet he had looked pretty heroic so it was ok. Sitting up he thought it'd be best to make his way back to his room but not before having a piece of cake. Heck it wasn't the best cake he'd ever made but it definitely wasn't the worst. Ivan didn't know what he was missing. He managed to pick up the kitchen a little, probably not to Toris's standards but he was satisfied with the job so he made his way back to his room to clean up.

Ivan walked into his bathroom stripping the cake covered uniform from his skin. He would have to ask Toris to clean that tomorrow. He first concentrated on getting the frosting off of his face and hair in the shower. But soon he was done, dressed, and lying in bed with nothing better to do but think. He could still feel a bit of rage within him, but these days that was always there. Whether it was his or that of his people he didn't know, but he didn't think it mattered much where it came from. However, now that he had calmed considerably the overriding emotion was guilt. Why did he feel so guilty? Sure his actions had been a bit rash and harsh but he should be over it by now. In his weakened state he most likely did nothing more then leave some bruises. America would probably be healed in a day. But no matter how he tried to explain it to himself he felt an unending pit of guilt and the need to apologize. Which frankly was ridiculous. Apologize to his enemy? Never.

But then he remembered the look on the blonde's face when he had been in Ivan's bed. The flushed cheeks and soft lips parted ever so slightly. He could only imagine what it would be like to have Alfred make that face when awake just for him. Having the blonde lying beneath him, writhing in pleasure as he-

Ivan stopped the thought right there. Well he supposed him having feelings for the American would explain a lot. His current feelings of guilt for hurting him and his unexplainable wish for him to stay. However, he also knew it was silly for him to have such feelings. It would only further complicate their current situation. Besides, they couldn't last a day without getting into some sort of fight. But it was manageable, he had at one point or another in the past had feelings for other nations. All he had to do was ignore them just as he had in the past and they would fade. Time erases all things. Because Ivan knew the Soviet Union and the United States could be nothing more than the best of enemies.


	7. Chapter 7

Finally Alfred was able to take a nice long shower, removing all of the frosting that covered his body. It was one of the few times he felt like he was able to relax from the week. He also couldn't stop thinking about Ivan's face, the utter look of horror when he smashed cake onto him. 'Nothing like kicking communist butt with a nice serving of cake' he started humming. Though he had to admit, he also enjoyed hearing Ivan's chuckle at the end. Alfred tried to think of a time when he saw Ivan actually laugh or enjoy himself. Sure the Russian pretended to laugh and smile but nothing ever genuine, this thought made his smile grow wider in satisfaction. He had actually managed to break that cold exterior. Taking stock of his injuries he noticed his arms were already feeling a lot better, the only thing that really hurt was his head where he had injured it before. He managed to smack it again when Soviet pushed him down. At least it hadn't started to bleed again.

Once out of the shower Alfred stood in shock for a good minute...he didn't have any clean clothes. He hadn't planned on staying there more than a day. Even the stupid nightgown Toris had given him was gone. The blonde assumed Lithuania had come in and retrieved it. Only two options came to his panicked mind...walk across the mansion half naked with a towel to find Toris or walk half naked and go ask Soviet for some clothes… The brunette was probably already sleeping and even though Alfred just helped the Russian dude out he was still his enemy and that'd be humiliating. However, he was good at pretending not read the atmosphere so he wrapped a towel around his waist and headed over to Soviet's room. Hoping he wasn't sleeping or else this would be even more humiliating than it already had to be he knocked on his door.

Ivan had just closed his eyes when he heard the knock. He sighed and dragged himself out of bed. He didn't know who it could be at such a late hour but whoever it was they were lucky he hadn't fallen asleep yet. "What?" upon opening the door he was greeted by the sight of a half naked America. Ivan cursed the blondes horrendous timing as he couldn't stop himself from noticing that the blonde was quite nicely toned. "America? Why are you being naked?" Ivan managed to ask, the blonde was a bit damp and smelled good as well, he must've just showered. He could swear he felt his cheeks heat up slightly as his mind drifted to the intimate thoughts he had been having just before said blonde appeared naked at his door.

"Well funny story...you see I don't have any clean clothes. All mine are covered in frosting from earlier. Soooo, I was wondering if I could borrow some until tomorrow?" He asked sheepishly, chuckling and trying his best to not seem embarrassed by this. However, his cheeks were a bright red and he was obviously avoiding eye contact with Soviet. God this was humiliating even for him.

"Oh da I can be lending you something." he turned to go to his wardrobe before pausing realizing he had left America in the hall, "Ah, you may enter." he added. Ivan opened the wardrobe and began to rifle through his clothing looking for something the blonde wouldn't utterly drown in. While also trying not to imagine the naked blonde dressing in his clothes.

"Cool," Alfred responded, casually walking took the chance to finally observe the room in the light. 'God it's so old fashioned...' he thought as he strolled in. That didn't surprise him though because everything about this place was old fashioned. The fact that he was half naked drifted to the back of his mind as he meandered around the room, letting his curiosity guide him. Paying no mind to the library on the left, that could possibly have important books or documents, or the shelf that had old photos and valuable knickknacks he instead stopped before one of the walls. The blonde stared at the rug hanging on the wall, not used to such an odd sight.

Ivan finally found some of his smaller clothing near the back and pulled out a set of pajamas as well as a pair of slacks and a plain button up. He turned expecting to find America going through the things on his shelves but instead saw the blonde staring at one of the rugs on his wall. "Is something the matter?" he truly was curious.

Alfred was snapped from his thoughts when he heard Ivan's voice. "What… Oh, uh why is there a rug on your wall?" He asked with a puzzled expression. As he turned to face the Russian the slit in his makeshift towel cover fluttered up, revealing a toned upper thigh. However, Alfred was too focused to realize what he had almost done.

Ivan caught a glimpse of skin from beneath the towel, he noticed his own breath hitch but made sure to keep eye contact with America. Good lord this was getting ridiculous and he really needed to get the blonde to put on clothes. Oh, he had asked a question, something about the rug? "Ah...da it is for decoration and heat. Very practical. I found clothes for you. They will be little big." he responded holding out the small pile.

As America walked towards Ivan he noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt...he hadn't caught it earlier as he'd been purposefully avoiding looking at him. Idly the blonde noted that he had a pretty nice body, fit and robust like he did manual labor. As Alfred stopped before him he noticed a scab on his chest, yet again forgetting what kind of situation he found himself in and becoming lost in thought. 'Wait, is that where I shot him? That was great aim, near perfect! But...why isn't it healed yet? It should have already…'

Ivan noticed America stare at the wound on his chest. He was beginning to regret not putting on a shirt. Hopefully Alfred wasn't smart enough to notice how long it had been since he received the wound and the lack of healing. But he had a feeling he noticed and would remember it later.

As the American reached for the pile of clothes his hands brushed slightly against Ivan's, 'Holy dang...his hands are huge.' Alfred felt his stomach instantly twist as he began to walk to the bathroom. "Thanks dude, I owe you." he laughed, trying not to make the situation any more awkward.

As America took the clothes from him their hands brushed briefly 'So warm.' he thought. As the door to the bathroom shut he realized the other had thanked him. "Oh you are welcome." Ivan went back inside the wardrobe and pulled out a t shirt. Sure, America wouldn't be in his room much longer but if he could keep the other from getting a second look at the healing wound on his chest he would. Realizing he wouldn't be able to fall asleep anytime soon he crossed the room to the bookshelf, picked a novel and sat in one of the chairs nearby beginning to read.

Taking a small break in the bathroom, Alfred was able to gather himself. Putting on Ivan's clothes he realized how big the other actually was. They were supposed to be his small clothes, but they didn't come close to fitting well, he didn't really have the luxury to be picky at the moment. Slinging his towel around his neck he strolled out. "Like you said, they're big but it's better than nothing, so thanks!" he gave one of his award winning smiles.

Ivan glanced up from his book, upon seeing America he let out a little chuckle. He somehow managed to look almost cute in his clothes that were pooling at his wrists and ankles. "I am glad they work for you." He realized he still wished to apologize for earlier. Ivan knew he shouldn't but being together like this, without the uniforms or anyone's prying eyes it was almost too easy for him to forget they were enemies. Before he could stop them the words slipped out, "I am sorry for earlier America." he held his breath, avoiding the others eyes, and regretted the words as soon as they were said.

He was shocked to hear Ivan apologize, that was another side of him that Alfred had never seen. "No problem dude!" He smiled, waving his hand in a motion implying it was no big deal.

The ashen blonde didn't know if it was because of the stress he had been experiencing lately mixing with the way Alfred brushed off his concern or how completely oblivious the blonde was to what happened. But the sight of America waving his hand around as the sleeve fell and flopped in the air caused Ivan to burst into laughter.

Alfred froze, he had no idea why Ivan was laughing, but the sound was so deep and rich while also being completely foreign to him. He hadn't said anything funny… 'Maybe Ivan was losing it? The Soviet Union has been under a lot of stress lately so that really wouldn't surprise me…' he thought to himself, giving Ivan a puzzled expression.

The look of utter confusion on the blonde's face just made him start laughing harder. He looked unbelievably cute with his much too large shirt and dumbfounded expression. He hadn't laughed in so long that his sides and his face were already starting to ache.

"What? What is it?" Alfred accused, annoyance coloring his tone.

Ivan gasped for air before speaking, "You, you look so-" he became caught in another fit of giggles.

"I look so what...?" he frowned, placing his hands on his hips.

"You look like adorably confused puppy." he choked out finally calming down. "Although now you look more like cute child." He giggled wiping the tears from his eyes.

"What...?" Alfred stared at Ivan with a blank face for a second while he processed what was said. Soon his brows furrowed as he flicked him off, "Fuck off!" he growled, clearly annoyed and stormed off toward his room.

"Ah wait America!" The blonde stopped and Ivan put his book down on the table beside him, "I apologize, I did not mean to insult. It was mostly fault of clothes. I promise." he had finally gotten control of his laughter, though a slight smile still played on his lips.

Turning to face him he leveled a glare at the man, "Like hell you actually mean that. Just because I'm smaller than you doesn't mean shit." He sneered in annoyance. "I'll just go ask Toris for some of his clothes." Turning the handle on the door.

Ivan didn't want America to be mad at him over this. Sure there were plenty of other things but something as simple as clothing? No that was just ridiculous. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to have a testy American in his house for the next couple days. He would also like to have a conversation with him about what to tell their bosses but he couldn't do that if he was upset with him. So Ivan quickly rose from his chair and in a few strides caught up to America as his hand grabbed the doorknob. Grabbing his wrist Ivan stopped him, "Please, I am telling truth." Through the thin fabric of the old shirt Ivan could feel the heat of the others skin. "I know size means nothing. Our fights have been teaching me as much."

Alfred was surprised at how fast Ivan moved, he looked at Ivan's hand that grabbed him and then up to him. Ivan's face looked genuine to him. "...ok." Alfred relented.

Ivan sighed, he was thankful America finally believed him. He realized he was still holding the others wrist and quickly let go, "Sorry. Good night America." he returned to his chair and brought the book back into his lap.

"Yeah...goodnight." he mumbled, leaving the room to try and get some rest.

…

Ivan awoke early the next morning, after dressing in his casual clothes he made his way down to the kitchen. Toris was already there making something for breakfast. "Good morning Toris."

"Ah good morning master Ivan." he quickly responded. Toris glanced at Ivan taking in his appearance, he didn't appear to have any new injuries. Which means him and America either found a way to reconcile or Alfred was a bit worse for wear. Toris would be more apt to believe the latter.

"Thank you for cleaning the mess from yesterday." Ivan leaned against the table, watching Toris cook.

"O-oh I assumed you did it." So Ivan hadn't cleaned last night? Then who did.

"No it was not me... Although I was meaning to ask you about cleaning my uniform." If Toris hadn't cleaned then who? Surely it hadn't been America?

"Do not worry I will take care of it." Toris took the chance to scurry from the room and fetch the uniform, he'd rather not take his chances with Ivan that morning.

Before Ivan could respond his phone rang. Looking he saw it was England, why would he be calling? With a heavy sigh he answered his phone, "Hallo?"

"Where is he Soviet." England demanded.

"It is nice to speak with you as well England." Ivan replied sarcastically. "You will have to be more clear."

"You know who I mean! No one has seen or heard from America in days besides Canada but I don't buy his story. The only person who could keep America for so long is yourself."

Ivan found the man to be quite annoying and didn't want to deal with him any longer. "Sorry to be bursting bubble England but I have not had contact with America recently. Now I have work to do. Goodbye." he shut the phone hearing the Englishman's angry protests suddenly die away.

Up in his room Alfred rubbed at bleary eyes. He was starving, all he had for dinner the night before was a piece of the cake he had made. With his mind full of thoughts of food he groggily got out of bed and stumbled down to the kitchen. Bypassing the curious Russian nation the blonde opened the fridge and grabbed the leftover cake with his hands. Pink frosting now clinging to his hands and a fork hanging from his mouth Alfred shuffled back up to his room.

Ivan watched the very disheveled American leaving the kitchen. Shaking his head at the ridiculous display he ate a quick breakfast and trudged up to his study. Closing the door behind him he saw the massive pile of paperwork waiting for him on the desk. He sighed and sat, preparing for a day of catch up.

...

A tentative knock broke through the haze of Alfred's sleep addled brain, "Hello?" he mumbled.

Toris hesitantly entered the room, he wasn't sure what he might find but assumed the blonde had been injured from the previous night and couldn't get up to answer the door. "Excuse me Mr. America I noticed you didn't get up to get any food this morn-" Toris almost dropped the tray of food he was carrying. Alfred was perfectly fine…in fact he almost seemed content with empty tray and fork covered in frosting before him. He was also wearing Ivan's clothes...but he hadn't brought him any... 'What in the world happened yesterday' Toris thought in utter confusion.

"Oh, hey Toris!" Alfred perked up, finally noticing the tray beside him. "I must have went to bed hungry didn't I? One time I ordered a pizza, paid, and ate it all without realizing it." He laughed. The nation never could understand why his body required him to be consistently eating to stay satisfied. Toris shifted uncomfortably in the doorway, unsure how to approach the situation. Stretching as he stood Alfred walked over and grabbed the tray from Toris, his body wanting to eat more than just sugar. "Thanks! Oh, also could you bring me a change of clothes, mine are covered in frosting."

Toris responded in a daze, "Ah sounds good, I'll be right back Mr. America." he really didn't know if what he witnessed was a good or a bad thing. Returning with a change of clothes the blonde thanked him.

"Hey I need to talk to you, can you give me a second to get changed?" Alfred asked.

"Of course." Toris responded warily.

"Awesome, be right back." Changing in the bathroom the blonde inspected his new look, the clothes fit him at least. However, they definitely were not his style. They were so boring and plain...they made him look like a farmer.

Seeing Alfred reappear from the bathroom Toris looked to him in curiosity, "So what did you need America?"

A serious look darkened his otherwise cheery features, the brunette grew wary, certainly not used to such a display. "The Soviet Union is weakening, isn't he?" Noticing the others shocked reaction he continued, "And you don't need me here to help you break free…it's collapsing in on itself…" Alfred was now glaring at Toris with a look that would rival Soviet's.

Lithuania stepped back, "Umm, Mr. America I'm sorry but I don't think I know what you mean? I told you I just wanted to be free."

The blonde scoffed at the weak defense, folding his arms in agitation. "No, be honest." Alfred had no reason to be involved with this, something in the story didn't make sense and he didn't appreciate being lied to.

"I-I do want to break free…it's just…" The other nation sighed, posture crumbling, "I also don't want Ivan to die."

Alfred stood there stunned, that wasn't what he had been expecting to hear. He'd assumed Toris hated Soviet's guts. Taking a deep breath he crossed the short distance between them. Slowly he lifted his arms, noticing how Toris flinched away before feeling the warm embrace. He hadn't expected the American to hug him. After a few moments America released him, but before Lithuania could scurry out of the room Alfred called out to him, "Toris!" Green eyes regarded him curiously, the blonde nation gave him a slight smile and reassured, "I'll try my best."

 **...**

 **Author's Note:**

 **And now we finally know what the note was all about. :33 By the way the M rating for this story will become apparent starting next chapter so look out for any warnings and what not at the beginnings of chapters.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:**

 **TW: Sex, Alcohol, and Questionable Consent**

 **Drunken sex ahead, so if you dislike smut or drunken escapades make you uncomfortable you have been warned. 3 As always feel free to leave a review! I love reading them and knowing what you guys think! :)**

Ivan stretched his arms above his head hearing his joints pop. He had been working all day with only brief food breaks when Toris came and had only just managed to catch up. Looking at his watch he discovered it was almost midnight already. He rose from his desk and left the office turning out the light. On the way to his bedroom he paused at a door two down from his own at the end of the hall. It had been a while since he had last visited that place...his fatigue completely forgotten he entered the room. Ivan flicked on the lights and illuminated the darkness. There were many rows of shelves inside as well as a couple wardrobes that Ivan knew were filled to the brim with clothing. The walls were covered in ornate rugs and paintings with barely any of the bare wall showing through.

But Ivan was pulled to a particular shelf against the wall that was rather small compared to the others. He picked up a small music box that was decorated with detailing of gold on top of beautiful deep varnished oak. Lifting the lid delicate notes came tinkling from within. Ivan knew this song well and a swell of bittersweet emotion overcame him almost instantly. He remembered an adorably small girl swirling about her room before small hands pulled on his own to dance with her. Afternoons spent listening to fantastical stories and picking wild flowers. Making matching flower crowns for the whole family. But the giggling soon turned to silence.

Alfred couldn't sleep so he thought it'd be a good time to get a midnight snack. Lately, he's been more hungry than usual. Whether that was due to his injury or being away from his country he didn't know, but it was a real hassle. Munching on some food he made his way back to his room, pausing when he saw a door open further down the hall. He'd never seen that door opened and his curiosity flared. Peeking in he found Ivan hunched over something. From the look of it this appeared to be Ivan's storage closet and Alfred wasn't sure if he should say something or leave… Ignoring his better judgement he decided to knock on the door.

The sudden knock jolted Ivan out of his memory and caused him to quickly shut the lid of the box casting the room into silence. "America, ah were you needing something?"

"Not really, I was just walking by and noticed the door open. I was just curious." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, sorry I should have closed door." Ivan replied looking around the room, "I was just remembering." America may be young but even he would understand the wish to revisit old keepsakes. When one lived as long as the nation's did you began to collect things that held certain memories.

"Ah yeah I understand, I'll leave you alone then. If you need the hero I'll be in my room." He chuckled awkwardly, turning to go to his room.

"Well if you were wanting to...you could stay." Ivan replied hesitantly. "Actually, I have few things here you might remember."

"Huh?" Alfred walked into the room carefully, "Oh really? What?" Curiosity shining in his eyes.

Setting down the wooden box Ivan made his way over to one of the wardrobes, "This might be being too far back for you to remember easily. But I remember you were fascinated by it when you were young." he opened the wardrobe and after a minute of digging he found what he was looking for and released it from the depths. Ivan held a long purple robe with flowing sleeves that was covered in white embroidery and encrusted with pearls and other jewels that caught the light. "I wore this first time I met you. England brought you with him to the ball. You ask many questions." Ivan chuckled, "'Are you royalty? How did you find those jewels? How did you make that? Will I get something like it someday?'"

Alfred's eyes lit up, he vaguely remembered that. "Wow! I don't remember much but I do remember that!" He was smiling brightly. "I distinctly recall thinking you looked like a hero out of the old story books Arthur read to me."

Ivan paused, a hero? "Oh you mean like prince in fairy tale?" Ivan chuckled looking at the garment in his hands. "Da I suppose, but that was very long ago."

"...true" America agreed with a nostalgic smile, "Now it's like the opposite." he chuckled.

Ivan smiled sadly "I am supposing you are right." he spoke quietly, almost as if he didn't want to admit it himself.

Alfred frowned, his point wasn't to make him sad, he was just joking. "It's ok dude, don't think to hard on it." He reassured, patting Ivan's back.

Chuckling the ashen blonde replied, "Da it will do no good to dwell on it." he was lying. He had done nothing but dwell on it for months. It was hard not to think about your decline in health and high possibility of your own death. He put the clothing back into the wardrobe and shut it tight.

Wait...Alfred swore he had just gotten a glimpse of something particulary interesting. A wide grin spread across his face as he reopened the wardrobe. There, near the back, he found an ornate outfit that included some rather amusing tights. He would pay to see Soviet wear this. Trying to choke down his laughter he asked, "Umm...does this fit you anymore?"

Ivan looked at what America was referring to, it was his costume from The Nutcracker ballet he performed in. "Oh I almost forgot about that." he smiled remembering the practice and later the applause. "Hm it would be tight fit if it did. I have grown considerably since." he chuckled, "Though I would not mind wearing again if I could perform." he really did love ballet after all.

Huh, that wasn't what Alfred had been expecting.' "Ah...seriously? I had no idea." he smiled awkwardly.

"I am glad you are interested in my culture!" Ivan practically beamed. He took out the outfit and held it up to America, if he didn't know any better he'd say it was just his size. "You know America I think this would be fitting you very well."

Alfred's mouth dropped open, was he being serious? Did he really imply that he wanted him to try it on? He stared at Ivan's smile…it was weirdly pure and genuine. Oh god, he did and he looked so happy about it too. Alfred sighed with a gentle smile, "Fine, but first give me a shot of that flask you have."

Ivan wasn't sure if he should let America drink from his flask or not. The blonde probably thought he had typical vodka in it but Ivan had learned long ago how to make his own. His vodka was a bit stronger than most. Then again, it would be fun to see the others reaction. He chuckled, "Of course." he reached into his jacket and pulled out his flask holding it out for the blonde.

Alfred took a big swig, face distorting into something akin to disgust as the fire burned down his throat. "Oh god." he muttered, it wasn't necessarily bad, he'd had far worse quality, it was just stronger than anything he'd ever had before.

Ivan burst into a fit of giggles at the reaction. Oh yes that was worth it. "You do not like it?" he held his hand out expectantly.

The blonde glared at him. "Ha ha very funny!" He replied in a sassy tone. "You know what?" To prove a point he quickly downed the rest of the flask. "It was great!" He slammed the now empty flask into Ivan's hand. Trying his best to keep a straight face.

Ivan watched as Alfred downed his entire flask. He wasn't exactly surprised that the american had taken his bait but the fact that he hadn't had an intense adverse reaction to drinking it all yet was interesting. If a human were to have even a sip of it they would be throwing up instantly. Even their kind couldn't handle much more than a flask full without getting at least mildly tipsy. He was pretty sure that America was a lightweight who hadn't had much alcohol in the past. But maybe he was wrong. "I am glad you like it!" Ivan beamed, a plan forming in his head "Now time to put this on! After we can go downstairs and have more of vodka if you like da?" This would be very fun indeed.

Taking the outfit from the other's outstretched arms he left and went into his room. Slipping into the outfit he grew curious and checked himself out in the bathroom mirror, chuckling at his own reflection he couldn't help but think, 'These tights really make my butt look hella nice.' However, he could do without the fluffy sleeves, they were a bit much. Leaving his bedroom he saw Ivan down the hall, calling out to the ashen blonde he giggled, "Hey dude, I don't look half bad!"

Ivan turned to look at the american and immediately began regretting his idea. The outfit did indeed fit, and it fit quite well. A bit too well because, as much as he hated to admit it, America looked fantastic. The top hugged his narrow waist and accentuated his broad shoulders. Then of course were the tights that hugged him in all the right ways. Ivan shook his head to clear himself of the distracting thoughts. He chuckled and plastered on a smile he hoped didn't look to awkward or forced and addressed the clearly buzzed blonde in front of him. "It is fitting you perfectly!"

"Haha of course it does!" He gave the other a thumbs up, feeling pretty great at the moment. "So let's head downstairs and get more!" He chuckled, walking cheerfully past Ivan.

Ivan found the blondes eagerness to drink entertaining and was more than willing to supply the alcohol. "Sounds like good idea." He replied turning to follow America down the stairs. Yet again he noticed just how well the ballet tights fit. He cursed himself for noticing this particular detail. Once they reached the kitchen he opened one of the cabinets and took out one of his many bottles of vodka. He poured the blonde a glass and grabbed the bottle and another from the cabinet. "I believe sitting room would be being more comfortable than kitchen da?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea!" He smiled and made his way over to the sitting room with the glass. "Wow, if someone would've told me a month ago that'd I'd be in the Soviet Union having a nice drink with you I wouldn't have believed them." Alfred laughed, "You're actually not that bad of a guy."

Ivan drank from the bottle and sat in one of the armchairs. He chuckled a bit, "I wonder if you will still be thinking this tomorrow? But I would be agreeing with you. I would not have thought we would be here now." Ivan paused to take a long pull from the bottle, "So, you really think I am not so bad?"

"Of course! I would never admit it out loud though! I have an image to uphold. Oh...crap I just did." He began laughing, the sound warm and pleasant to Ivan's ears. "I'm supposed to hate you but it's more of-" pausing a second to think, "a weird obsession...plus differences in culture and just not knowing a lot about you. So all of that just comes across as hate." He took another long drink.

Drunk America was quite amusing but Ivan was a bit surprised by what the other said. An obsession? Ivan set down the now empty bottle and opened the next. Well he definitely wondered just what sort of obsession America had with him, and how closely it may mirror his own. But he didn't think the blonde was drunk enough just yet to let loose that kind of information. Noticing Alfred giving him an oddly intense look Ivan frowned, "What?"

"Yesterday you brought up the letters...I wanna know, why did you stop writing to me?" He had always wondered if Ivan had simply grown tired of him or if something had happened to him to make him stop.

He was silent for a few moments, unsure how to respond. This was a far more serious conversation than he had been expecting. Gathering his thoughts amid his slightly hazy mind he answered with a frown, "Because you had stopped answering."

What? No that wasn't how it went. "No, you stopped answering me." Alfred countered.

Ivan was confused, "Perhaps alcohol is causing you to remember incorrectly…"

Annoyance coloring the blonde's features he shook his head, "No way, I remember. At first I thought maybe you were busy but then when I found out all the problems your country was having I got worried. I was concerned about you asshole and you ignored me."

He sat in a bit of shock at the outburst, America had felt so strongly? Anger reared it's ugly head within him, "I wrote to you asking for help but you never responded. Do not try telling me you were worried." he had hoped Alfred would at least try but he had ended up only being his enemy.

"I never received those letters, don't you dare accuse me of not caring." He had considered the other a friend after all and he wasn't the type to ignore a cry for help, not once.

Ivan was silent, the anger fading away and replacing itself with confusion and a cold feeling of regret. He had been so upset with America, had ignored him in return for ignoring his letters and had turned inward. Had succumbed himself to listening to his boss and following his will...his boss. Suddenly, Ivan felt incredibly stupid. The answer was so obvious now, his boss and held his letters and kept him from seeing America's. He'd wanted his representatives full obedience and cooperation and after reading his letters he knew he would have to sever his connection with America to truly gain it. The man had tricked and manipulated him and Ivan should have easily seen through it. Alfred noticed the other's silence and the strange look on his face, the heated emotions in him eased into the background. "...Soviet?"

Snapped from his own thoughts he turned his attention back to America, unsure how to even begin explaining everything he had just realized. "I...sorry, what were we discussing?"

Alfred sighed, "The letters...I don't hate you just cause you stopped writing. Maybe at first when you were hard core ignoring me but I got over it. Now I guess I just regret it?" They'd had such a good relationship, how had it gone so horribly so fast?

"Me too…" Ivan murmured, a thought occurring to him. "Well, we could try fixing this?" he offered, sure their countries didn't get along but that didn't mean they as representatives had to mirror that. One thing a nation learns after living long enough is that they can have a sort of separate identity to their nation.

"How?" America asked, truly curious as to what the other had in mind.

"We can be getting to know each other again, like we used to." Ivan suggested with a small smile. "What would you like to be knowing about me?"

"How about a favorite past time?" Alfred asked finishing up his neglected cup. "Could I have some more?" He asked with a dazzling, if clumsy, smile. He was glad to move on to something easier, his brain didn't want to think about anything complicated right now.

Ivan chuckled, "One more glass, that is all." Leaning forward he filled America's glass. "Past time I like? Well you know ballet." He gestured to the blonde's current outfit. "There is also figure skating, knitting, and chess. I also like gardening and baking with big sister." He smiled fondly.

Taking a drink he mused, "Huh, I wouldn't have guessed...you have such a hard exterior that most people wouldn't think you'd like doing cute things like that. I'm not too good with ballet but swing dancing, that's where it's at." the blonde laughed.

The larger nation felt his cheeks warm. His hobbies were cute? No one besides Ukraine had ever used that word when he was involved. "Swing dancing? I do not have much experience in that. Truthfully I am better at ballroom dancing. How were you learning to dance?"

"It was a fun way to interact with my people! Sadly it's pretty outdated and barely anyone in my country does it anymore." He mumbled sadly, "Oh well things change with time." He shrugged.

"You can be teaching me sometime if you want? It may take little while but I would get it eventually." Did Ivan just say that? He looked down at the bottle, it was already almost gone. Had he really drank that much already?

"That would be a lot of fun actually!" Instantly the blonde perked up, a bright smile on his face. "It's not that hard of a dance! I could teach you some of it now!"

"Now?" Ivan didn't think that sounded like a terribly bright idea. He would probably be able to manage seeing as how he was only a bit buzzed. But America was most definitely drunk and that didn't sound like the best dance instructor to Ivan. "Ah no, maybe other time when we are not drunk da?"

"Oh come on! So the great Soviet Union can't handle a challenge?" Alfred teased while walking over and grabbing his hand to pull him up.

He knew the American was baiting him, and yet a part of him still wished to take it. He found himself being pulled out of the chair by the blonde. "Very well, then teach me."

"Heh~" he grinned, "Well I'll teach you the lady part first because that's easier and then if you do good I'll show you the guy's." Alfred pulled Ivan closer showing him the steps.

Ivan chuckled, "Just wait, one day I will teach you dance and you will not be so smug." He tried to keep up with the blonde's mildly clumsy dancing. In all honesty he was surprised by how well the other seemed to be fairing. He must have been very experienced to be able to do this as drunk as he was. As they danced Ivan couldn't help but notice the curves of the others body. He didn't know how he hadn't managed to notice it before. The larger nation may have tried to create more physical contact than was necessary for the dance much as he wished he hadn't. Ivan soon realized what he was doing and politely excused himself saying he had to use the restroom. Going out into the hall he tried to gather his thoughts and cool down.

Alfred let the other go and looked forlornly at his now empty glass. However, blue eyes slid over to the half empty bottle on the ground, he giggled and picked up the bottle. Before he realized it the alcohol was gone, with a satisfied sigh he set it back down where he had found it. Noticing his rapidly developing hunger he crossed the hall into the kitchen, only vaguely remembering where it was. Reaching into the food cupboard he rummaged around until he found a bag of chips, fishing them out with a triumphant flourish and promptly sitting on the floor to enjoy his spoils.

Ivan had to control himself. He couldn't allow himself to give in to his feelings for the blonde. Because if he started making compromises, a look here, a touch there, then they would be much more painful to snuff out later. America was drunk, that's the only reason he was being so nice. Plus, once he left and went back to his own home, with his boss and surrounded by his own people, everything would return to being the same as it was. Because while yes, nations could have relationships and thoughts separate from that of their countries, they couldn't stray too far. It was also very hard to do so. It is because of this that even if Ivan and somehow Alfred wanted to have a relationship that was more than just civil it would be exceptionally hard with their current state of political tension. No it was best to just leave it alone. And for that to happen Ivan would just have to get a grip.

Taking a deep breath Ivan returned to the sitting room only to find Alfred missing and his bottle empty. He didn't remember finishing the bottle, sure he could drink much more than that and be fine. But if he wanted to keep his wits about him he would have to stop. He wondered where the blonde could've run off to when he heard noise coming from the kitchen. When he entered he found America on the floor with a bag of chips. "America you can be eating all you want but first I would like if you would change." Ivan stated chuckling at the sight.

"Sounds good!" He gave Ivan a salty thumbs up.

Ivan waited a beat in which America continued to stare up at him with his bright red face. "...this would require you to move...?

"Ah...that might be a problem," he giggled. "I don't think I can."

Ivan pinched the bridge of his nose, this had clearly gotten out of hand. While this was very funny he was also attempting to steel himself for what would come next. Because while he could just leave America here it was best to bring him back up to his room. Suddenly Ivan had a thought, could he even lift the other anymore? Well, he would try. He sighed "Very well, let me help." He bent down and wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist and under his legs. Lifting with his legs Ivan was able to pick him up. It wasn't easy, but he could manage. "To your room da?" he asked leaving the kitchen. His voice was a bit strained from the effort but at this point he assumed the other wouldn't remember much or be in the right mind to care.

"Yeah~" He sighed, nuzzling up into the others scarf and holding onto him tightly.

His breath hitched and his step faltered for a moment. America was now completely pressed up against him and dangerously close to his neck. Normally, anyone touching his scarf would be severely punished but glancing down at the blonde he couldn't bring himself to do so. He tried to focus on his breathing as he walked. Once he reached the blonde's room he was able to push it open and set the nation down on his unsteady feet.

Alfred reached down to the shirt he was wearing, fumbling a bit before tears glimmered in his eyes. "I'm sorry Ivan I can't get it off and I know this is important to you."

Ivan was taken aback by the teary blue eyes before him. Was this really the same America he knew? "O-oh ah da of course I can be helping. Just lift arms out." Ivan could feel his cheeks warm considerably. He instinctively buried his face in his scarf in an attempt to hide the blush he knew he had.

The American did what he was told, trying to hold back the tears. "Ivan, thank you so much. You're such a good friend. I don't deserve you."

It took massive amounts of self control for Ivan not to bellow with laughter. This was just too rich. He was thankful he'd remember this. Wait had he just called him Ivan? Had he always done that? When did that start? "Anytime Alfred." he responded, if America was going to use his human name then he would reciprocate. The name felt odd to say though after not using it for so long.

He then set to the task of unbuttoning the blouse starting from the top. About halfway down he finally noticed the large expanse of tan skin before him. It looked so warm and soft, he wondered if it really did feel that way. He purposefully brushed his knuckles across the skin. It was exceptionally soft and radiated a warmth that could rival the sun. He quickly returned to the task of unbuttoning. Once he reached the end he returned to his full height. "Arms down comrade." He commanded to which the obviously drunk blonde complied. Ivan took hold of the garments shoulders and slid it down the other's arms exposing his torso. Once again he was struck by the others good looks and was a bit jealous.

But in order to get it completely off he had to step even closer to the American, to the point where they were practically pressed up against each other. Ivan's breathing became a bit erratic at the closeness and the feel of America's breath on his cheek. He straightened and came face to face with the blonde. He caught himself thinking that he could easily kiss him from here, it didn't have to be any more then that, just a kiss. One couldn't hurt right? The blonde wouldn't remember any of this anyway right? Slowly he brought his hand up to the others cheek lifting Alfred's face to bring it closer to his. He stopped when their lips were scantily an inch apart. "I will continue if you want me to." he whispered.

It took a moment for Alfred to understand what Ivan meant, however once his scattered thoughts caught up his stomach turned, he began to think of what he did the other day while thinking of Ivan. He leaned in, pressing his body up against the others and kissed him haphazardly. After the kiss Alfred pulled back to whisper in Ivan's ear, "I've never been fucked by a Ruskie before~"

Ivan was shocked by the others forward nature but greedily accepted the kiss the blonde offered. His lips were incredibly soft against his own and caused his thoughts to scramble. He quickly discarded the shirt in his hand and wrapped his arm around the other's bare waist. Alfred's breathy words in his ear caused a shiver to go up his spine. Should he do this? He knew this was a bad idea, he had just told himself this was exactly what he shouldn't do. Plus the blonde wasn't exactly in his right mind either. But he was finding it hard to care with the half naked man pressed against him so eager for Ivan to continue. He threaded his hand into the others hair and pulled lightly to bring his lips once again to his own. Biting the blondes lip he pulled away slightly "Are you sure you want this?" he asked, his voice a low rumble.

"Mmhmm~" Alfred hummed, licking his lip where Ivan had bit him. All he knew in that moment was that he wanted the other, his hands moved clumsily while trying to find where Ivan's shirt ended. He tugged on the hem, "I've wanted you for a while, I even have a hard time getting off without thinking of you~" he nipped at Ivan's ear.

He wondered if the other was being truthful or if the alcohol was causing him to exaggerate, having a hard time believing America had wanted him like he had wanted the blonde. But he didn't need any more encouragement than Alfred tugging on his shirt. He roughly kissed the other, winding his hand into the golden hair and beginning to unbutton his own shirt with his free hand, seeing as how he assumed Alfred in his drunken state wouldn't be able to. The American released a small hum, thankful when he saw Ivan taking care of his own shirt. He found his hands trailing up the older nation's back, he just wanted to touch Ivan all over and he was having a difficult time figuring out how to do so.

Once he finished with his shirt Ivan smoothly shrugged out of his jacket and pushed the American up against the nearest wall, ripping a gasp from the smaller mans throat. He pressed kisses along his jaw and down his neck causing Alfred to hold onto him tighter as shivers ran down his spine. Reaching the tan shoulder Ivan bit into the skin, his hands sliding down the other's sides, relishing the feeling of the smooth, heated skin. Alfred released a muffled moan, not expecting the slight pain and cool breath on his shoulder.

Ivan adored hearing the noises the blonde made, but he wanted him to make even more. He locked lips with the blonde again, his tongue gliding across Alfred's lower lip. While keeping the blonde's lips preoccupied he slipped off his shirt, pressing close to America again in hopes of feeling some of his delicious warmth across his skin. The sudden coolness shocked him slightly, but Alfred enjoyed the tingling sensation it brought. He wanted more than just this teasing, he wanted to touch more and explore the pale skin pressed against his own. These thoughts raced through his hazy mind as he began tugging at the waistband of Ivan's pants.

The older nation chuckled at the others response, he brought his lips to the American's ear. "So eager," he nibbled on his ear lobe "Trust me Alfred, going slow will feel better." he whispered as his hand slide down to feel that the blonde was already quite hard. Warm breath hitched hearing the accented words and Alfred bucked slightly upon feeling the large hand. He then slid his hands under Ivan's scarf, wanting to explore every inch of his body.

Ivan realized there may not be any lubricant in this room, at least he didn't want to assume America had any. No one should be awake at this hour nor should they be in this wing. "Hold on tight comrade." He spoke into the blonde's ear as he picked him up. As hoped the other wrapped his legs around his torso and arms around his neck. Ivan connected their lips as he maneuvered them out of Alfred's room and into the hall. He broke their kiss to focus on moving to his room, he felt America once again shift his scarf trying to find bare skin. It seemed the blonde eventually gave up and moved to his shoulder and began to leave marks of his own. Ivan tried to hold back his moan until he closed the door behind them and brought Alfred to his bed.

He didn't want his scarf to be damaged by clumsy hands, so he locked lips with the eager blonde and began to unwind his scarf. He pulled away to place it on the bedside table before returning to the American to leave more marks upon his neck and shoulders. 'Maybe these will make him remember.' he mused. Even he was beginning to grow impatient so while keeping America distracted he removed his pants and moved his hands to the waistband of the tights Alfred still wore.

The younger nation breathed heavily, "Ivan, I want you now~" he murmured in Ivan's ear as his hands started exploring his bandaged neck. Ivan pulled away the tights to reveal that Alfred was already very hard. He then leaned down and gave an experimental lick just to see what sort of sounds he could elicit from the blonde. If he was going to give in to his desires then he may as well try to get the most out of it this one time. Because who knew if there would be another. "AH!" Alfred's whole body jolted from Ivan's cool tongue. In a breathy whimper he begged, "More."

The ashen blonde loved hearing Alfred beg, he complied to the blonde's request and continued to lick and suck making the blonde even harder. He wanted to hear more of the noises the other could make and savored every moan, whimper, and gasp he could earn. Alfred mewled and moaned as his hands grasped the bed sheets and his toes curled. Trembling he panted, "I-Ivan...I'm gonna..."

He let the blonde release, swallowing it so that he wouldn't have to bother cleaning a mess later. Besides, it really didn't taste that bad. He relished the moan the other produced, however he still wanted more. And he knew he could make Alfred go again. Climbing onto the bed he slid his hands up America's sides, mapping the body beneath him while he had the chance. He tried to commit the beautiful sight before him to memory. Tracing a few of the scars he wondered as to the stories behind him. He continued to caress the tan skin and laid kisses along Alfred's neck and collarbone. Everywhere the older nation touched gave the American shivers and made his breathing erratic. He began to feel Ivan's chest, making his way slowly to his neck. Alfred really didn't like how he wasn't able to touch the sensitive skin...he wanted to kiss and mark the skin so he could see it later.

Ivan couldn't stop the shivers that wracked his body. God how he loved feeling the others hands on his body, his warm touch was bliss against his cold skin. He leaned down and brushed his lips against the blonde's, hoping to receive the same eagerness from earlier. Even the brief touch sent sparks of pleasure through him. Alfred's breath hitched and his heart hammered when Ivan went to kiss him, when he stopped short Alfred impatiently pulled him in closer. Ivan pressed into the kiss, longing for more contact, more of the softness, more of the warmth, he just needed more. When Alfred's fingers reached his neck and began to pull at the bandages there he let out a gasp and a low moan. Resting his forehead on the others he panted, "A-ah, n-nyet Alfred." Ivan wished he could let Alfred touch his neck, waves of pleasure still washed over him from even the slight brush. But he knew the sight of what lay under the bandages would ruin the mood.

Alfred shivered in response to the deep sound of want the older nation produced. He was disappointed by the refusal but moved his hands past the bandages to Ivan's hair, playing with the ashen tresses instead. "Your eyes are so beautiful~" Alfred murmured, staring longingly into the bright, violet gaze. The feel of the others hands running through his hair was very pleasant in its own right. Wait, had Alfred just called his eyes beautiful? No one had ever paid him such a compliment. Usually many didn't dare meet his gaze. He was truly flattered by the compliment but was soon swept into the feeling of the others lips against his once more. This time he fervently returned the contact, slipping his tongue inside to get another taste of the American. He felt as though he would never tire of exploring and teasing the other. But he was painfully aware of his need for more. He slipped his hand down between Alfred's thighs to coax him into excitement again. "Nngh~" Alfred let a small moan escape his lips next to Ivan's ear as he began touching him. "Ivan~" he gasped, moving his arms to lightly trail down Ivan's back.

He felt the blonde harden rather quickly, both to his joy and amazement. Ivan couldn't wait any longer so with one hand he played with one of Alfred's pert nipples wondering what sort of reaction he could get. With the other he reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the bottle from the drawer. The action ripped a whimper from the flushed nation, it was a delightfully soft and needy tone that brought a shiver to the older nations spine.

Ivan put a generous amount of the liquid into his hands and warmed it before positioning his fingers at the blonde's entrance. He leaned down and captured Alfred's lips to distract him from the discomfort of him preparing the other. Breaking away from the kiss he moved to his collarbone and began to nip and lick at the skin while he inserted another finger, continuing the stretching motions. Alfred gasped, he was too overwhelmed with Ivan's cool lips against his skin to feel the burning stretch. Then his mind went utterly blank, pleasure overwhelming his senses and ripping a wanton moan from between his lips as his body arched up into Ivan's.

The larger man chuckled, bringing his lips to the Americans ear he urged, "Oh come now мой подсолнух, I know you can be being louder." Ivan spoke low, his voice heavily accented with want as he thrust his fingers into the spot again.

At this moment Alfred had no thought process. He just wanted Ivan to continue. "AH, IVAN~" he cried, clinging to the man.

Ivan smirked, "молодец." He nibbled on the others ear and removed his fingers before sitting up. Preparing himself briefly before lining up with Alfred's entrance. Slowly, he eased into the warm, tight space. Shivers ran up and down his body and Ivan wasn't able to contain the low moan that escaped his lips at the feeling of the blonde's warmth surrounding him. The younger nations breathing was erratic as he hissed and grasped at the bed sheets, the stretch a bit uncomfortable but not wholly unpleasant.

The ashen blonde paused, letting both he and Alfred adjust to the new sensations. Alfred began to squirm beneath him, he leaned into the blonde, "You want me to continue, da?" He asked breathless. The other nodded in response and thrust into Ivan for good measure. He didn't need any more urging than that before he started a slow pace. The friction and heat was pure bliss and soon he wasn't able to stop himself from thrusting faster. The blonde moaned and gasped beneath him. His words unintelligible to Ivan. Leaning down he bit into Alfred's shoulder causing him to cry out which quickly turned into a keening whimper of pleasure when he licked the mark he left.

His pace became even faster, he knew he was very close. Judging from America's response he could tell the other was as well. The sight of the man writhing below him, mouth open and breaths coming in pants, eyes half lidded in lust and an enticing dark shade of blue was truly everything he dreamed it would be. Ivan thrusted into the spot within Alfred over and over, causing him to let loose a beautiful string of sounds. "Please, don't stop Ivan~" the blonde keened. It was this that sent Ivan over the edge, stroking Alfred he felt heat begin to pool in his stomach. With a moan Alfred came and Ivan followed soon after with a low groan. Panting he basked in the afterglow and tried to get his wits about him. Before closing his eyes and falling into unconsciousness Alfred murmured ever so quietly, "I like you Ivan."

Ivan paused at the words that left Alfred's mouth. Then he realized the blonde probably didn't mean it, just something one says in the moment. He got up from the bed, careful not to wake the other from his blissful slumber, and went to the bathroom to wash up. As much as he would love to stay and cuddle with the younger nation he knew he shouldn't. America was drunk, that was the only reason they had done this and he didn't want to be here when the other woke up and realized what he had done. Plus, he knew he was the last person Alfred would want to wake up next to. Once he was clean he left the bathroom and gathered his clothes into a neat pile. He dressed in his pajamas and grabbed the tights the other had worn. In America's room he found the tossed aside ballet top and found a change of clothes for the blonde when he awoke. He left them on the bedside table in exchange for his scarf. Glancing at Alfred he noticed he had a smile on his face as he slept. Ivan leaned down and kissed the tan cheek, "доброй ночи Alfred." he whispered leaving the room.

He brought the costume back to the wardrobe for safe keeping and went to the other spare bedroom in his wing. There were not any important documents in his room so it didn't matter if Alfred slept there without him. He may find some personal things of his but he found he didn't mind so much. Getting into bed he sighed missing the warmth from the blonde he craved and eventually fell asleep.

In the morning Ivan woke early to see he had a missed call from his boss. Checking his email he saw he had a meeting to attend in a couple hours. Getting up he dressed in his uniform, checking in the mirror to make sure there were no residual bits of cake clinging to the surface. He left the house shortly after that, informing Toris that America may wish to have headache medication and a good breakfast later that morning and that he would most likely be leaving today before going.

Alfred woke up to his head pounding, which lately wasn't that new of a thing. However, what did surprise him was the stinging throb in his ass. 'What the hell?' he made his way slowly to the bathroom. Squinting in pain when he turned on the light, he was going to use the toilet but noticed marks on his body. Quickly he moved over to the mirror, it was all starting to add up. He went out and looked at the room and noticed it was Ivan's. 'Really, you never cease to disappoint me Alfred F. Jones…' he thought with a groan, 'How the fuck did this happen?' He could remember things pretty clearly until he drank that half a bottle when Ivan had left… "Ah, that's why." he sighed.

Turning on the water as warm as he could he was about to step into the shower when his heart sunk. 'What is that…'he thought as he felt liquid run down his leg. 'That fucker…came in me.' He made a ghastly face while trying not to throw up in his mouth. Would it really have killed him to put on a condom first? Alfred stepped into the water and tried to clean every inch of himself. Upon finishing he felt exponentially better, changing into the black outfit he had originally entered the country in. Hearing a knock at the door Alfred poked his head out of the bathroom.

"Hello, Mr. America I have brought you food. I've made a large assortment." Toris smiled hesitantly, pushing his way inside.

Alfred smiled warmly in return as he grabbed the tray and started eating, "Hey Toris can you can me stuff to write a letter?"

Toris nodded curiously, "Of course."

After writing Alfred handed an envelope to Toris, "It's to the most upmost important that this gets to Soviet, ok?" Toris agreed hesitantly.

…

Later America waltzed into the international airport, "Are you Alfred F. Jones?" A member of airport security questioned.

"Nope!" Alfred replied with a chuckle and a wink. However, he didn't fool her and Alfred didn't care. He was detained and brought into a room to be questioned.

"Why were you in the Soviet Union Mr. Jones?"

"Huh, so y'all didn't get my message that I was in Canada?" The CIA agent placed photos of Alfred in the Soviet Union down before him. "Fine I'll talk but I need to talk to someone of…" Leaning in close he whispered, "clearance." The CIA agent looked at him in shock and begrudgingly walked out. Soon thereafter, Alfred's supervisor and Arthur strode in. Alfred smiled,"Hi Arthur I'm glad-"

England interrupted with a scowl, "What in the bloody hell did you do? If there is war started with the Soviet Union because of your dumb arse I'll be sure to kill you first!"

"Well...we don't have to worry about that. It's collapsing in on itself." America replied seriously.

Arthur gave him a funny look, "Really?"

"Yes…yes it is…." Alfred let out a particularly heavy sigh.

...

Ivan walked into his home later that evening and was greeted by Toris who said there was a letter waiting for him in his room. Thanking the man he went up to his bedroom and found the letter he spoke of. Sitting in one of his armchairs he read the note America had left.

'Dear Ivan,  
Go fuck yourself with your stupid sickle and hammer you douche bag. How about next time buy me dinner first? So you better not die before then, got it?  
Go fuck yourself,  
Alfred F. Jones'

He chuckled at the blonde's choice of words. If he wanted to go out on a date all he had to do was ask. He wondered if he would get the chance to see Alfred again any time soon. Setting down the letter he sighed, the only sound in the silence. Somehow his house had seemed warmer and more lively when the American had been there. Now it just seemed so quiet and lonely. Yes, he really hoped to see Alfred soon, even if they did fight, because he already felt colder in his absence.

…

 **Translations:**

 **мой подсолнух - My sunflower**

 **Молодец - Good boy / Good job**


	9. Chapter 9

Ivan had known he was going to die, he had been expecting it for months. But he hadn't expected it to be so soon or so violent. His right hand clutched his chest as he gasped for breath. Pain flooded his entire being as his heart tried to practically leap from his chest as if it was rejecting him. He tried to force his left hand to reach for his phone to call Toris, his sister, anyone but it had become numb and unresponsive a while ago it seemed. Why did it have to feel so painful, he was hoping for a peaceful death in his sleep, but instead he got a heart attack and a terrible one at that.

He couldn't help but think of his sisters, who would take care of them? Well he supposed they would take care of themselves, they have basically gotten their own independence already. Maybe it was a good thing he was dying now, better to just get it over with then drag it out. His thoughts began to grow foggy. At least this way his sisters would be around to find his body and it wouldn't just be left to rot or burn. He wondered what they would do with him, maybe give him a burial? But who would even attend his funeral if he had one? His vision started to go black around the edges. No they would probably burn his remains and get rid of the ashes, it was the only practical thing to do. Somewhere in the back of his mind he swore he heard the sound of someone speaking, well he supposed it didn't matter anymore.

Ukraine knocked on the door of her brothers study, he hadn't eaten in a while so she wanted to bring him something. When she received no answer after knocking a second time she opened the door to find Ivan slumped against his desk, breath coming in short gasps with his eyes barely open. She rushed over trying to figure out what was wrong, "Little brother what is wrong! Please stay awake, you must stay awake." But there was nothing she could do, he was soon unconscious and all she could do was cry and wonder what to do.

With Toris's help they managed to bring Ivan to his bed. He was still alive but it didn't look good. The news informed them that there was a coup attempt currently taking place in Moscow. Which would explain why they hadn't heard anything. Apparently most of the world had already caught wind of the incident as well. Ukraine was worried for her little brother, she didn't want him to die but she would be happy for their independence. It made the whole situation that much harder to comprehend. Ukraine and Belarus stayed by Ivan's bedside constantly, hoping for their brother to somehow pull through. Everyone else in the house avoided the wing like the plague, even Toris rarely visited. Only checking in to make sure Belarus and Ukraine were alright. He knew the others in the house were wishing for Ivan's death to come sooner rather than later. But he didn't know what to think.

It was the morning of October 20th, 1991 and Alfred turned on his tv to the news of the current crisis in the Soviet Union. 'That's kind of embarrassing for the dude…' he thought while continuing to watch it with his morning coffee. However, something caught his eye that caused him to spit out his coffee. Gritting his teeth, he ran into his room and opened a large safe hidden in one of his closets. Grabbing the long, black case and the already packed bag he closed the safe and made his way to the airport. On the way he dialed Toris's number, hoping the other would pick up.

The brunettes gentle voice greeted his ears, "Hello Mr. America, how can I be helping you?"

"I need you to pick me up from…" Alfred made sure to cover his mouth in case of onlooking cameras.

"I don't know if I can do that...Master Ivan isn't feeling good." Toris murmured hesitantly.

"I know." Alfred responded sternly, "You need to make this happen."

…

'Was he being selfish…?' Alfred lost himself to his thoughts, his body working on autopilot.

He was dressed in black from head to toe when he entered the foreign airport, hood up and large aviator glasses on he looked suspicious but at least he wouldn't be recognized as himself.. Toris almost missed him, the American hadn't looked anything like he was expecting. The blonde whispered in his ear a location to drop him off plus a different location and time to pick him up. Lithuania was confused about everything but was used to not questioning things. During the car ride Toris tried to start small talk with America but Alfred just looked out the window in silence. 'Is this really Alfred?' Toris questioned in his head.

'Was he hurting his people…?'

Once at the location, Alfred hopped out of the car and gripped his case, waving Toris away without a smile.

'Was he making the world worse off…?"

America was consumed with his thoughts the entire trip…he felt a little bad about how he had treated Toris. He would have to apologize for it later.

'Mostly likely.'

The blond nation got into position a couple buildings away, he hadn't done this sort of thing in a while so it had taken a bit longer to set up. But he had learned from Finland who was easily the best, so he wasn't worried. It had been about three days now since he had seen the news…he hoped it wasn't already too late.

'But he craved this…'

Waiting for correct time he lined up his aim, letting out a breath he steadied himself and pulled the trigger. He only needed one shot, looking through the scope he saw the new representative fall. Even if he was technically a country like them he was still small and rather frail. Such a young, tiny thing wouldn't be able to recover from an injury like that. They could continue with the coup sure, but now they had no choice but to keep Ivan as the representative of whatever his country becomes. If a new representative popped up Alfred would simply repeat this process. All the questions he had been asking himself up until this moment before didn't matter anymore….

Alfred needed Ivan.

He packed up his equipment, retreating quickly to the agreed upon rendezvous location and greeted Toris with his old cheeriness. "Well, I tried my best!" America reassured Toris with a wink.

He needed his villain.

...

Ivan woke up slowly, he was still weak and in a bit of pain but he was alive, which was most shocking of all. He was quickly brought into a crushing hug from Ukraine, her sobs finally reaching his consciousness. His arms weakly wrapped around her, trying to sooth her. This whole situation had probably frightened her. Belarus was also watching him closely while trying to calm Ukraine, as if making sure he really was alive and the same person. Ukraine finally let go and Ivan immediately questioned as to what happened. His sister looked at the little tv they had brought into the room that was playing the current news. So there had been a coup attempt in Moscow, that explained the heart attack. But what it didn't explain was how he was still alive, sure it wasn't a complete success but it wasn't exactly a failure either. If anything this may have just sped up the process of his death. He'd most likely start getting weaker from here. What was worse was that most everyone knew about it. He couldn't hide his symptoms much longer it seemed.

He asked his sisters to go and find Toris as well as inform the others of his status. They came back only without Toris, it seemed the man wasn't home. 'Strange' he thought, 'He almost never left, unless we needed food but I do not think he would leave with me like this.' Did the brunette have something to do with the failure of the coup? Ivan doubted it but he would just have to wait and ask.

A couple days passed and Ivan began to regain his strength. This alerted him that something was very wrong with the story Toris had told him. When he had questioned the man the day he had awoken the other had said he went to get groceries, which he did return with. So Ivan didn't question it, coup attempts happen, many do indeed fail, so he believed it. But now that he was growing stronger by the day rather than weaker, something wasn't adding up.

He found Toris alone in the kitchen, walking in he leaned against the table behind him. "How are you Toris?"

"I am doing fine, and yourself?" he responded.

"Surprisingly well, I find myself getting better each day." he bored holes into the back of the brunettes skull.

"O-oh that's very good then right?" he could tell Toris was nervous. The other man knew what Ivan was getting at.

"Da I suppose, but after such threat to my life I assumed I would be getting weaker as opposed to stronger." he paused, noticing Toris stood stock still, "You would not happen to know anything about that, would you?" his voice was sickeningly sweet.

"A-ah I mean apparently your people were not so keen on the new leadersh-" Toris was stopped short by a hand on his shoulder.

Ivan squeezed the man's shoulder, "Do not lie Toris." He slid his hand over to the back of his neck, gripping tightly. He leaned down next to the other's ear, "I know when you lie."

The brunette shook like a leaf, he didn't want to tell Soviet about America's involvement but he also feared for his safety. Ultimately that fear won out, silently apologizing to Alfred he told Ivan everything America did with him while he had been there. Ivan simply listened and walked away when the other had finished without so much as a word.

He knew what Alfred had done, sneaking into his country with a long suitcase. The fact that Ivan was growing stronger rather than dying outright. The blonde had shot what was to become the new representative of his country, well the replacement to his country. What did that mean for him? Was he really going to live? He had a hard time believing that with the current state of his government and economy but just maybe he would change with his country rather than being replaced. No that was silly thinking, new representatives could be created at any time. He knew this.

But why did he still feel America had done something that just saved his life? And if he had, had he done it knowingly and willingly? Why? He had no reason to. If anything he was being counter productive if not out right treasonous toward his own country. Why would he risk so much? Surely he couldn't care for Ivan enough to do so. That was wishful thinking. There had to be some benefit the man got out of this. Maybe he just wanted to keep Ivan as the representative since he already thought he knew him. Maybe America assumed he would be able to read Ivan better than a new country who could potentially be even worse than he was. Maybe the American didn't wish to take that gamble? Ivan sat at his desk in the study, unable to focus on anything. There were too many conflicting emotions and questions but most of all he just wanted to know, why?

...

Alfred managed to successfully return to his house without a problem but he didn't feel good. His head hurt from thinking so much and his stomach twisted in guilt. It hadn't even been an hour when members of the SWAT team stormed his house and pinned him to the ground. He didn't fight it, only grunting at the impact of his shoulder slamming into the floor. However, the nation was confused as to why they didn't simply knock on his door and ask him to come with, he would have complied. Feeling cold, metal cuffs circle his wrists the blonde's confusion heightened, he could easily break the flimsy handcuffs they put him in. Blue eyes glanced around the room and eyed up the dozen individuals watching him, he could probably take them all. The thought made him chuckle, clearly his boss was testing him.

The nation was brought to a holding cell, yet again the bars containing him were ridiculously weak and he could easily break out if he really wanted."Don't I get a phone call? Maybe a lawyer? Or how about knowing why I was arrested, huh?" Alfred called out mockingly to the guard outside the cell. The guard just ignored him. "Wow, this isn't like the movies…" The blonde sighed, taking a seat.

Eventually his boss appeared, a grim expression on his face. "You are to attend a trial in three days about your actions…"

Alfred gave him a confused expression in return, "What do you mean? What's going on?" His boss just walked away, leaving the nation to ponder about what had just happened.

The days passed uneventfully, the blonde had given up trying to figure out what had caused his boss to go off the deep end like this. On the third day Alfred's wrists were placed into large steal devices, he couldn't quite call them handcuffs, it just didn't seem right for the cold steel now locking his wrists together indefinitely. He was brought into a large, circular room with enough guards present to stop him this time, especially with his hands being bound and each one being armed. The guards stepped a few inches away upon reaching a chair in the center of the room, before them sat four men and his boss at a large, wooden counter. He was told to sit down to which he thought best to listen. The nation was surrounded by video recorders, however, he noticed there was no press, he assumed the video recording was only for higher up officials to review the proceedings later.

Alfred's thoughts were interrupted by a question from an older man sitting in front of him. "What is your name?"

"My name is Alfred F. Jones, and it's a secret what the F stands for, even the President doesn't know that." He chuckled, he never said he wouldn't make this interesting.

The man raised a brow but otherwise kept his expression stiff, "Are you a member of the communist party?"

Alfred couldn't believe it…him, the embodiment of America itself, was being accused of treason by his own country. He knew his actions could be considered that but he what he didn't understand was how they could simply accuse him of that like this. "Hmm…not that I recall. I was part of a monarchy before, but that wasn't too fun and we all know how that worked out." He scoffed with a wink, "But the communist party? Never. I can't imagine Yao or Ivan throwing a very good party!" the nation laughed.

"ALFRED! Be serious!" his boss scolded harshly.

"What were you doing in the USSR on October 23, 1990?"

"I had a hot date," Alfred glared at them with a smile on his lips. "But in all honesty, I already told y'all why I was there."

"Well we'd like to hear it again."

"I went there because I got a message about an important meeting time. However, things didn't go as planned and I got stuck there."

"Who gave you the note."

"…what note?" Alfred replied sarcastically.

However, this time it didn't go as planned and he was smacked hard across the face with a baton. "Ok, now, Mr. Jones, tell us what you were doing in the USSR four days ago?"

Alfred scoffed, "Well I went to see the coup, who wouldn't want to relish in victory over their enemy? Especially when it's that embarrassing."

"Please tell us what is in this suit case Mr. Jones?" he man held an image of the long black case he had brought with him.

Alfred froze, god these guys were good he couldn't move anywhere without them knowing, however he later found out that he had apparently been on high alert after his first trip to the USSR so they were just waiting for more evidence before they brought him to trial. "A guitar, I'm pretty good at playing! If you unlock my hands I can show you!" he smirked mockingly. Yet again pain erupted across his face as blood dribbled down his lip, he was sure there was a bruise forming on his eye. "GOD! Have any of you ever read the constitution? I have my right to a fair trial!" he yelled, only to be hit again.

"Calm down Mr. Jones. Do you have any relations with the USSR also known as Ivan Braginski?"

"What if I do?!" Alfred said standing up and letting his anger get the best of him.

"Mr. Jones I told you to calm down! Now sit back down, we are not done yet." The guards had their guns all trained on Alfred. The nation did as he was told. "So, back to my question. What are your feelings for the USSR?"

Speaking slowly Alfred responded, "I, Alfred F. Jones the representation of the United States of America do not love the USSR also known as Ivan Braginski..." Alfred paused for a second deciding whether it was a good idea to add this or not but at this moment he was too annoyed to care. Pissed that his democracy was failing…that trials like this even existed in the first place. "But…," he added with a shit eating grin, "I like Ivan Braginski and would like to get to know him better." Taking advantage of the moment America jumped up and ran towards his boss, gunshots rang through the air and pain radiated from concentrated points all over his body. Grabbing the man by the collar of his shirt he growled, "I am the United States of America and I am not to be treated this way! I am not going to give up my freedoms! A MAJORITY of the people agree with me and if you don't accept that you aren't going to have a good time…" his words trailed away as he fell back, body lying limp on the bloody floor.

When Alfred next awoke he was in an isolated room and wearing a fluorescent orange jumpsuit. Taking in his surroundings he only found a bed bolted to the ground, a toilet, and sink. He groaned, his whole body screaming in pain...he really wasn't sure how many times he had been shot. After a week of lying in bed healing Alfred was good enough to inspect the room closer…the walls were all reverse mirrors. He kicked one just to test it out, however it didn't budge in the slightest.

...

Ivan was handed a video tape by one of his personal spies. "What is this?" he inquired.

"Just trust me you will want to watch this. I am told it wasn't easy to get, as far as I am aware no one has seen it." with that the man left.

Ivan brought the tape up to his study and turned on his television inserting the tape. It showed was what looked like a courtroom full of armed guards. Ivan wondered how this could possibly be of interest when a man with honey blonde hair was ushered in. This man had mischievous blue eyes and a stubborn cowlick. He wondered why Alfred was in cuffs and why he was being held captive by his own people?

"Are you a member of the communist party?" the accusative voice on the tape droned. Wait, was America being held suspect for treason? For being a sympathizer to Ivan's government nonetheless? Ivan just couldn't believe this was real, it had to be a fake.

"...I can't imagine Yao or Ivan throwing a good party!" The ashen blonde's mouth dropped open and he swore he felt his eye twitch. Did that snarky big mouth just insult him while making a joke during his own trial?

Ivan blushed a bit when Alfred suggested that him being in his country had been a date. But was that really what he thought? He doubted it. Then he watched as America was struck across the face, the crack echoing in the silent room. He couldn't believe they had actually hit him. He thought the blonde got along well with his government and boss. If he were to judge the relationship purely based off of this he'd guess Alfred was a criminal not a country.

"...who wouldn't want to relish in victory over their enemy?" Ah...was that a lie or the truth? He thought America had been here to help him, but how would he know that was the truth over this more plausible reasoning? He was beginning to find it harder and harder to understand the blonde these days. Ivan winced as he was hit again for making another painfully timed joke. Did he not understand the severity of his situation? He could only imagine how angry Alfred was getting being restricted like this.

"Do you have any relations with the USSR also known as Ivan Braginski?" he immediately perked up, keen on hearing the other's answer. Sure he would most likely lie even if he wanted to admit the two of them had...well whatever it was they had.

Eventually America answered them, "I, Alfred F. Jones the representation of the United States of America do not love the USSR also known as Ivan Braginski." He felt his heart drop, he didn't know why he had expected something different but just hearing it- "But...I like Ivan Braginski and would like to get to know him better." Ivan's head snapped back up, eyes glued to the screen. Had he really said such a thing? Was he being honest or just using him to piss of his government?

Next thing he knew Alfred was grabbing his boss as bullets lodged themselves into America's back. Ivan couldn't believe he was watching the blonde's own government kill him. He was truly stunned. The nation soon began to fall to the ground when the video cut out and went black. If this was real then what happened to Alfred? Was he under house arrest? Was he ok? And was he being truthful in the video? Ivan looked to his calendar, it was still a few months before the next meeting. Would America be alright until then? Would he even attend? Ivan clutched his head in his hands, why did he have so many unanswered questions lately?


	10. Chapter 10

Arthur knew something was wrong. Alfred usually called him or texted him with something stupid weekly yet he hadn't heard so much as a peep. He'd tried contacting the blondes government but all Arthur got out of them was that he was just busy right now. 'God, the US government is piss poor at lying' he thought to himself as he sipped his cup of tea. Deciding to try another route he called up Matthew, "Hello my dear boy, how have you been?"

Matthew hadn't been expecting a phone call from Arthur, the reserved Brit barely called. it was nice to actually hear from him, "I'm doing great Arthur, how have you been?"

Arthur responded, "I've been great as well, I was wondering if you heard anything from your brother in the past week or so?"

'Of course.' The Canadian thought bitterly, 'He only called me talk about Alfred.' "Nope, I haven't heard from him…actually now that you mention it things over here are weirdly quiet."

"Ah…" Arthur murmured, he knew something was up and was prepared to find out what. "Well thank you my dear boy, I'll talk to you later." Hanging up he dialed another number, bringing his thoughts into focus as he waited.

Ivan was in the kitchen cooking when his work phone rang. Setting down the spoon he had been using to stir he answered his phone, " _Hello, Russia speaking_."

"Where is he?" Arthur demanded.

Ivan sighed, "England we have been over this, you must be being more specific."

"I really don't have time to have the same conversation with you again. Where's America?" The nation responded in annoyance.

He raised an eyebrow, the Englishman sure was short with him today. "I am afraid I do not know. However, you should ask his government." Sure Ivan couldn't go snooping around Alfred's government but if anyone could it'd be England.

The British nation paused, Soviet knew something. "What do you mean by that?" he questioned. However, he knew if he wanted to get a little more information out of Soviet he would have to let some information he knew slip too. "Well I talked to his government, but they wouldn't tell me a thing. Usually when it's that it has to deal with you." he grumbled.

Ivan thought for a moment, "You are on right track." he was pretty certain the video was real now. Alfred must be being kept somewhere in some sort of house arrest at this point. "You should find video of America's trial. It will not be easy." The ashen blonde sighed, "Well I have already said too much, good bye England." he hung up the phone on the other man. Ivan found himself hoping England found the video and could somehow help the blonde when he could not.

"What trial?" he asked but it was too late, Ivan already hung up the phone. After some snooping Arthur found the video. The Russian had been right, it was very difficult for him to get his hands on it. Taking about a good month before he received a copy. He couldn't breath after watching them open fire on Alfred…feeling disgusted and sick. There was no way that patriotic twit would choose the USSR over his own country. Alfred was just being stupid and angry about the unconstitutional trials and said what would piss them off the most…now he was paying for it. He knew he couldn't do anything for Alfred besides be there for him when he got out. Arthur headed to the US as soon as he could to try and urge his bosses to release him earlier.

Meanwhile, Alfred couldn't believe he was on major lockdown for being a "communist". How could he, practically the representation of capitalism, be a communist? He was what his people were…and his people were just letting blind fear lead them. He didn't even have a fair trial. Well the joke was on them, he didn't tell them shit. Though that really depended on what they already knew… Frankly, this was business between him and Ivan not their countries.

Though he had to laugh at their attempts to torture information out of him. Alfred just found it too ironic, they had trained him to not break under such pressure and here those very people were trying to get him to talk. He couldn't count how many times they almost killed him in the process. Though a few times they got pissed at him and ended up killing him anyway. It really just wore him out. However, Alfred did learn something from the whole odd ordeal…his people were choosing to give into their fears over keeping their freedoms. He supposed he couldn't blame them…he'd felt just the same until recently. The only thing that really pissed him off was that he now had a mugshot, 'really hero's aren't criminals' he thought dying inside.

Alfred had no grasp of the date, the time passed slowly and he had no way of knowing when one day ended and another began. He just wanted to play some video games, read some comics, and most importantly get a good burger! He was given the same bland food every time, though not enough for him to actually feel full. Sure he wasn't starving but he went to bed hungry a lot. All Alfred was focusing on was staying sane and staying himself as the weeks dragged by.

...

It was now September 21, 1991, Alfred was briefed that he would be attending the world conference in two days. He needed to act like nothing happened, the world could not know the United States was practically turning against itself. That would cause uprises everywhere...apparently. Alfred just rolled his eyes, he wasn't making an uprising, he just wanted the stupid policies to be reworked.

His boss walked into the room, totally avoiding his eyes, showing Alfred word for word what he needed to say in his presentation. Alfred was confused and annoyed, usually he was the one that made and gave it. "If you manage to do this successfully we will consider putting you on parole. You've been seeming to change your ways and we'd like to see that continue."

Alfred just rolled his eyes, "Yes, sir."

The representative had no idea what was going on in the world, sometimes he could feel a slight stir of something but was never quite sure. He was wondering how Ivan was fairing out there. When he finally walked out of his prison he was greeted by Arthur. The American ran and gave him a tight hug. "God you can be so stupid sometimes!" Arthur chastised, holding him close. They had always had a very...special relationship.

"So you know?" Alfred muttered.

"Yeah…I saw the video." The other nation replied.

"Did I at least look cool?" He asked hopefully.

"Really…?" Arthur sighed…"Yeah, yeah you did you git…standing up for your constitution was pretty cool." Alfred just chuckled. They had always been there for each other and they would continue to do so.

Alfred and Arthur flew into France on September 22, 1991 to attend the world conference. The American was frantically working on his presentation, there was no way in hell he was going to give a present that a stupid fascist wanted. The only problem was presentations like this usually took a week to put together and he had only started a day ago so he needed to hurry and focus. Plus, to make things worse he was distracted by his thoughts of Ivan. He wondered if he should try to talk to him or just pretend nothing happened. Alfred sighed, staring out the plan window no closer to a decision.

Once they landed he booked it to the hotel to take a nap, he didn't know if it was the jet leg or the whole not sleeping in the past 24 hours thing that made him so tired. His presentation was on the second day of the meeting anyway so he had some time…but not as much as he would like to have thought. Waking up a bit later he made some shitty hotel coffee and was ready to go at it again. He passed out around three in the morning of the first day of conference only to be awoken by his alarm three hours later. 'Today's going to a coffee and Redbull day, huh?' He thought tiredly. Taking an ice-cold shower that he hoped would wake him up or at least give him enough energy to seem awake to everyone else he began dressing. He heard a loud knock at his door, looking out he could see Arthur, plastering on a grin he answered it.

"You're not ready yet?" Arthur frowned, though mildly relieved Alfred was awake at all.

Looking down at his state of dress the blonde chuckled, "Believe it or not once I put on my jacket I'll be all ready to go!" he was trying his best to seem like he had energy.

"Hmm, almost impressive." The other nation scoffed, shaking his head. Soon the two were making their way to the conference room together.

...

Ivan inspected his reflection in the hotel mirror, his tailor really had done an exceptional job. She had managed to pad out the jacket in a way that made it look like he hadn't lost a single pound. The lifts in his shoes also seemed to be working quite nicely. Sure everyone would already know that the Soviet Union had lost some of its land with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and quite a few others having left but that didn't mean he had to show it. The last thing he wanted was anyone's pity or for anyone to think they could take advantage of him. He wasn't going to look weak, therefore he had to hide his smaller stature with his black suit.

He straightened his scarlet tie, wrapped his scarf about him, and left to fetch his sisters from the room next door. His thoughts drifted to America, he wondered if the blonde would be in attendance. He hoped he would, Ivan still found it odd to think of the other as fondly as he did.

His sisters were ready to go when he knocked so they made their way to the meeting room. Taking his usual seat with his sisters beside him he waited. Others were in the room already such as the host France with Italy, Germany, and Japan among others. No one made eye contact with him, not wishing to strike up conversation which was fine by him. He ran through his presentation in his head, fairly straightforward really. Just snuffing out any concerns others might have as to the coup that took place in his country as well as the recent governmental upheavals and loss of influence over many countries. It would be a delicate situation of course but he had practiced so much he could give the presentation in his sleep.

He heard America before he saw him enter the room with England. Alfred noticed Ivan as well, but he was pretty sure now wouldn't be the best time to talk considering all the other countries around. America and England took their assigned seats on the other side of the table from the Russian with Canada. Ivan was surprised by how run down Alfred looked. He had dark circles beneath his eyes and looked as if he had lost weight. 'What has his government been doing?' he wondered. But before he could put much thought into it France began the meeting. He soon gestured to Ivan to give his presentation.

Alfred was trying to stay awake the best he could, downing another Redbull to aid him. Matthew glanced at him in concern, "You're going to end up dying if you keep drinking that stuff." He whispered.

Alfred responded with a breathy chuckle, "Then I wouldn't have to do this stupid presentation!" Matthew just rolled his eyes. America was too tired to pay attention to the presentation. Instead he ended up staring at Ivan the whole time while wondering if things had really improved for him.

As he spoke Ivan's thoughts drifted to the lies present in his speech. In reality his country was a mess and he knew that most others here knew it too. He wondered if anyone here would miss him. His eyes drifted to his sisters, of course they would. Sure they would be happy for their freedom but they had always been family and his death would affect them harshly. Near to them was China, he knew the small man was just thinking of how he would make use of his lands when he was gone. That's all he had ever been concerned with, including when he was younger and tried to seduce Ivan. Granted he couldn't blame him, he had been an easy target being so young and naive. Glancing to Germany he knew the man wouldn't have any feelings for him, he was right to still hold resentment towards him. The same could be said for the Japanese man beside him. Then there was Italy, he thought he might at least mourn his death out of respect. He had always been nice to most everyone. When his eyes fell to England he was a bit conflicted but ultimately he decided the man probably neither loathed nor liked him. France was a different story however. They had their fights of course but they had always gotten along rather well, even having romantic relations at one point. He would like to think he would at least miss him.

Then there was America, he noticed the blonde was staring at him intently. He still didn't know if the things the other had said in the video were true or if he was simply using him to get back at his government. He tried to not get his hopes up even though it was rather hard to do. He wanted Alfred to mourn his absence but he didn't know if he would. Ivan's country had ultimately been its own demise but America had still played a part in that decline. As much as he wished they weren't they were still enemies. So shouldn't Alfred be happy that he was gone? That he had won? A small part of him didn't believe that, the same part that had wanted to have sex with the blonde and grow close. But there was no use in it anymore, Ivan was being selfish trying to get close to the other now. He knew he would be gone soon. Alfred may have killed the representative that was supposed to take his place but a new one could show up at any time. Or, even if there wasn't, he would still change. He didn't know who or what he would change into once the Soviet Union was gone. He could be someone unrecognizable even to himself. So in the end, no matter what happened, this current him was going to die. And he was afraid of what was to come.

He finished his presentation and sat between his sisters, a little sick to his stomach after such thoughts. France then called the thirty minute break, Alfred darting from the room and returning to his own for some much needed sleep before coming back for the rest of the presentations. Eventually the meeting ended and the American fled the room once more, he still needed to finish his presentation for tomorrow and would need all the time he could get.

Ivan tried to find America after the meeting but just missed him as he slipped out of the room. He supposed he would just have to speak with him later. Instead, he brought his sisters back to their room and went to his own. Attempting to read a book or otherwise distract himself Ivan found his thoughts constantly returning to those he had during the presentation. He was beginning to hate the quiet of his room and wanted some sort of noise and presence of others with him. So he left his room and went down to the lobby with his book. He knew he would just be a bother to any of the other countries, so he figured sitting in the lobby where there was a constant commotion of people coming and going to keep him company was the next best thing.

Later that night Alfred had just finished his presentation and was about ready to fall asleep when he heard his private phone ring.

"Hey Alfred, come get Arthur, he's literally strip dancing on the table and I've ran out of one's!" An obnoxious cackling rang out from his phone.

Alfred frowned in annoyance, "Where's Francis? Can't he do it?"

Prussia responded in a hushed tone, "Well you see they got into a fight and that's why Arthur is smashed in the first place."

The American sighed 'They really need to stop getting me involved in their personal fights. Also, when did I become the designated person to take care of drunk Arthur?' "Just give me a minute, I'll be right there." Hanging up the phone Alfred threw on his clothes quickly and strode down the hall.

Glancing up from his book Ivan saw America walking from the elevators, he was about to get his attention when the blonde was already out the front doors. 'I suppose he has somewhere he needs to be.' he thought, but he would have to return eventually so Ivan would just wait until then.

America arrived onto the scene of one extremely hammered Arthur stripping in what looked like a small waiter apron in front of his junk. This sight only made his headache worse. He had been hoping Arthur was already passed out and he could just carry him back. "Hey Arthur! It's time to go home!" Alfred yelled loud enough to get the drunks attention.

Arthur turned around, wobbling on his legs but thankfully managing to stay upright. "Bloody hell it is! The night's still young my boy!"

Alfred was trying his best not to hit his head against the table...with a heavy sigh he hopped up onto the table and grabbed Arthur bridal style. Walking out the door despite the Brit's whining. If he carried him any other way America risked seeing his butt or...other things that he really preferred were left in the dark. However, before reaching the hotel, a now very sleepy Arthur began to shiver, "Is cold here."

Alfred groaned, "And you think I'm the one with the problems..." Setting the drunken nation down he slipped his bomber jacket onto his bare arms and shoulders. "You better stop complaining, got it?" Arthur just nodded before Alfred picked him up again. He was happy Arthur fell asleep after that, sure he couldn't ask him about his room card or where it was at. However, Alfred assumed he probably lost that with his clothing anyhow. 'God Arthur is wild sometimes'.

Some time passed before America returned, Ivan heard the commotion the blond made when he entered. Looking up ready to get his attention he stopped short at the sight before him. America was carrying a naked England through the lobby. Well not completely nude seeing as how he wore the other's signature bomber jacket but somehow that just made it worse. Ivan didn't know why exactly but he felt a little rejected and extremely annoyed.

Ivan rose from his spot and made his way to the stairs, determined to see if the blonde was going where he thought he was. Ivan exited on the blonde's floor and waited. Sure enough Alfred appeared walking from the elevator with England still in his arms and entered his hotel room. Was there something going on between the two? Did Alfred just sleep with anyone when alcohol was involved? If so Ivan felt rather cheated and humiliated. He had told himself that America was using him to get back at his government, that he had just been drunk and didn't mean the things he had said. But apparently that small part of him that had thought otherwise had been bigger than he anticipated. Now he was furious and wasn't going to walk away empty handed. He would show England, America, and potentially even the rest of them that Ivan was not one to be played with. Walking up to the door Ivan knocked and waited for America to answer.

The American laid Arthur onto his bed, he really couldn't leave him like that, who knew what sight he might be greeted with if he moved in his sleep… Alfred took out his pajamas and managed to slip them on the drunk without getting a look at his genitals which called for a small victory dance. However, he didn't have any more pajamas so he slipped on his white t-shirt and just took off his pants. He didn't mind just sleeping in his boxers. The blonde was exhausted and was about to lay down when he heard a knock at the door. He sighed, it was probably Francis wondering where Arthur went. Without looking to see who it was he opened the door..."Hey- Huh? Hey Ivan? What's up?" Alfred asked curiously.

Ivan looked the american up and down, his outrage growing. "Sorry to interrupt but we are having talk now. Please close door." he knew there was a noticeable lack of his usual smile.

"Oh? Ok. Let me just put some pants on and I'll be right out." Alfred was really too tired for this.

The talker nation grabbed the door, "Nyet. Now." His voice was firm leaving little room for argument.

"Ok?" The blonde shot Ivan another puzzled look. Walking out and closing the door behind him. "So what's up dude?" He asked with a yawn.

His seeming lack of understanding to the situation only served to piss Ivan off more. "I should be asking you." he responded pointedly looking at the blonde's attire, "Having fun with England?"

"What...?" He gave the Russian a puzzled look. "Not really? I've just been trying to sleep...I had to go take care of the drunkard. Why?" Alfred frowned, slightly annoyed at the thought.

Ivan sneered, "So this is usual situation with alcohol then? I feel very special comrade."

"If you mean me having to clean up Arthur's drunk mess then, yes?" Alfred replied sarcastically, he was starting to get annoyed at all of Ivan's accusations that didn't seem make any sense.

Wait so he wasn't going to have sex with him? Was he lying? He could just be trying to make Ivan continue to go along with his plans like he wanted. But how was he supposed to know? Well he supposed he could test it, "Oh?" He stepped forward and grabbed the blonde's hair, his other arm wrapping around his waist. "Then this should not be problem da?" he spoke low, keeping his voice barely above a whisper.

Alfred gasped as Ivan grabbed him. Taking a moment to understand the situation he glared at him with a challenging smile, "Of course it wouldn't be."

Ivan chuckled, "Then you won't mind this." He leaned down and bit into the other's neck, sucking the skin in hopes of leaving a sizable mark. He couldn't wait to hear how Alfred explained this to everyone, or how he managed to cover it. He wanted it to be obvious that America wasn't available for anyone else to play with. Not while he was around. Besides, if he was lying and was planning to have sex or further relations with England then he'd have to try and explain this. Alfred let out a small yelp, shuddering as the Russian bit into his neck.

Ivan soon pulled away, it looked as if the mark would stick around for a while. "See you tomorrow America. Have fun with England." He turned and walked towards the elevators satisfied with his work.

"Hmph," Alfred just held his hand on his neck where Ivan had touched...watching him walk away before going back inside. He was far too worn out to think much on the thoroughly confusing encounter and instead passed out.

Ivan returned to his room, he still felt annoyed by the whole situation with Alfred but there was not much else he could do. He wished he could know if the American was telling the truth for the past few months. He felt exhausted, he was rarely so active these days. Taking off his clothing he climbed into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.


End file.
